The course provides an introduction into the Earth climate, and its variability on different time scales due to external and internal influences, typical time constants and eigen-modes of the climate system. The course starts with an introduction into planetary evolution, the physics of the early Earth with a particular emphasis being put into the discussion what factors rendered the Earth into a habitable planet. Next, basics of the solar physics are discussed together with major factors affecting solar irradiance, its variability and consequence for global climate. Radiative transfer in the earth’s atmosphere, the greenhouse effect, radiative forcing and its sensitivity to disturbances is further addressed. In the following a brief history of the Earth climate is given with reports on the major milestone in Earth history, which are mostly documented in geological records. The course concludes with a discussion on the climate variability on time scales of thousand years, climate prediction and its uncertainty.
The course is offered to students with a basic knowledge (post-bachelor) in physics or geo-sciences.