Each year a different topic relevant to climate will be selected. Students will read papers and present them in class and will submit a project

This year's topic: The drying of the Mediterranean, with a focus on the Levant region

The Mediterranean region is considered a “climate hot spot” - in which the impact of global warming is expected to particularly strong. According to climate models, man induced global warming is expected to cause an overall drying of the Mediterranean Basin by the end of the 21^st century. The boundary of this drying region, however, runs through the Levant region, making it harder to predict the future of rainfall in our area.

In this course we will read papers dealing with central questions related to the expected drying of our region and the entire Mediterranean – why is our area dry to begin with, what are the main causes of the expected drying, and what, if anything, can we deduce from these studies regarding the future rainfall distribution in our region?