About the Program
Climate Science Minor
Climate science has immense importance for society and is central to the fundamental understanding of Earth and other planets. The minor in Climate Science provides undergraduates from a broad range of majors with a coherent program of study in the fundamental mechanisms that control planetary climate. Human-caused climate change is a major emphasis, but students can additionally choose to focus on the much larger range of climate states that have occurred in Earth’s past or that exist on other planets. Although the socioeconomic impacts of climate variability, the political systems that govern human interaction with climate, and the technology to remediate human-caused climate change are all important topics, this minor retains focus on the basic scientific processes that govern climate.
Worldwide, many students who pursue graduate study in the atmosphere, ocean, and climate sciences come from undergraduate majors in Physics, Chemistry, Math, Biology, or Engineering. Increasingly, students from those and other majors are also doing work in industry and government that requires knowledge of Earth’s climate system. The Climate Science minor allows students to continue pursuing a non-Earth Science major while completing and receiving recognition for a coherent program of study in climate.
There is no major in Climate Science; students interested in a relevant major should consider the Atmospheric Science, Environmental Earth Science, or Marine Science majors.
Declaring the Minor
For more information or to declare the Climate Science minor, contact the EPS undergraduate advisor at epsua@berkeley.edu and see the EPS Climate Science Minor Form for details about the required courses and units. A minor must be declared no later than one semester prior to a student's Expected Graduation Term (EGT). The deadline is the last day of RRR week.
Other Majors and Minors Offered by the Department of Earth and Planetary Science
Atmospheric Science (Major and Minor)
Environmental Earth Science (Major and Minor)
Geology (Major and Minor)
Geophysics (Major and Minor)
Marine Science (Major and Minor)
Planetary Science (Major and Minor)
Minor Requirements
Lower Division Requirements
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Choose one of the following: | ||
| EPS 7 | Introduction to Climate Change | 3 |
| EPS 81 | Extreme Weather and Climate | 3 |
| (Both courses introduce the atmospheric greenhouse effect, radiative feedbacks, and controls on planetary mean temperature.) | ||
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Select five of the following (at least three must be EPS courses): | ||
| EPS 102 | History and Evolution of Planet Earth (the prerequisite of EPS 50 is expected to be waived for students who have taken EPS 7 or EPS 81 and introductory physics and calculus) | 4 |
| EPS C180 | Air Pollution | 3 |
| EPS C181 | Atmospheric Physics and Dynamics | 3 |
| EPS C182 | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Laboratory | 3 |
| EPS C183/ESPM C170 | Carbon Cycle Dynamics | 3 |
| EPS 115 | Stratigraphy and Earth History | 4 |
| EPS 124 | Isotopic Geochemistry | 4 |
| EPS/ESPM C129 | Biometeorology | 3 |
| EPS 103 | Introduction to Aquatic and Marine Geochemistry | 4 |
| GEOG 142 | Climate Dynamics | 4 |
| GEOG 143 | Global Change Biogeochemistry | 3 |
| GEOG 185 | Earth System Remote Sensing | 3 |
| ENE,RES 102 | Quantitative Aspects of Global Environmental Problems | 4 |
| CIV ENG 107 | Climate Change Mitigation | 3 |
| EPS 229 | Introduction to Climate Modeling (graduate level course, can be taken with permission of instructor) | 3 |
| EPS 230 | Radiation and Its Interactions with Climate (graduate level course, can be taken with permission of instructor) | 3 |
| EPS C242 | Glaciology (graduate level course, can be taken with permission of instructor) | 4 |
Contact Information
Department of Earth and Planetary Science
307 McCone Hall
Phone: 510-642-5574