As a meteorology and climatology major, students will learn how to answer questions about weather and climate that are increasingly relevant and important to all of us. Will a hurricane change course and make landfall over a coastal city? How much snow will the Northeast get this winter? What do sea surface temperatures tell us about climate change?  

 

Students will receive training in meteorology, the science of the atmosphere, that will help students understand and address events felt throughout various sectors of society—droughts resulting in water shortages, crop damage and increased wildfire potential, or water surpluses causing flooding.  Students will also study the climate, which is usually considered to be an average of weather conditions over a long period of time, along with understanding the variability of climate and its extreme events. Studies in this area will include land-ocean-atmosphere interactions, as well as the role of the sun and astronomical forces. The skills students develop in weather and climate prediction are important skills used in the agricultural, tourism, disaster management, resource management, communication, and renewable energy industries.