The other reviews I think really blow this class out of proportion. It is not the easiest class and the TA I had was also nearly useless. However, if you pay attention to all the lectures, and review the slides, and read some of the supplementary material he gives you, then you can get an A in the class without too much trouble. Just give yourself a little extra time than you normally would on a basic GE. Also if you don't understand something and the TA and Professor are unhelpful some google searching can actually bring up useful articles that can help clarify some of the content in the class. Overall I learned a lot about climate systems and the class honestly wasn't that bad.

I may be biased because I love learning about climate change, but AOS 1 is the class you should go for if you’re looking to learn more about the environment or to satisfy a GE. The class material is really interesting, and the quizzes/homeworks are well spaced out so you have time to study. As long as you put in some effort to study, the quizzes are not that difficult. My TA was Danny, and he was hands-down the reason why I did well in this class. Prof. Bianchi moves pretty fast, so Danny’s discussion sections focus on slowing down and breaking down the material. Overall, all of the TAs and especially the professor really want you to succeed, which takes a load off your shoulders and makes the class so much more enjoyable. Definitely would take this class again!

Daniele is a great professor, super passionate about the subject. Overall the class isn't so much work but you have to stay on top of the material. Make sure you get Danny McCoy as your TA he is a lifesaver!!

First of all, I only got to watch pre-recorded lectures from this professor and the TAs were the ones in charge of the class (huge shoutout to my TA Danny!) I think it was a departmental thing, but the class structure was probably similar to how it would've been if we had in-person lectures with a live professor.

Just to make it clear though, this class focuses a lot more on the science part of climate change than the policy part of it. This was something I was caught off-guard by but ended up enjoying.

From what I could tell in the videos, Bianchi is very passionate about climate change and the slides he used were very clear. There was definitely a lot of information to learn, but since the topics were very interesting to me and were explained again in discussion by my TA, I found them easy to absorb. I'm a social sciences major, but the science part of this class was very logical to me. Even though the equations were a bit intimidating at first, using them only required basic math skills. Plus, you could always ask for help during office hours if anything was unclear.

Workload was very manageable. There were no readings required, just homework assignments and quizzes every other week plus a final. I spent quite a bit of time studying for the quizzes since they are proctored on Respondus and not open note, but this would probably vary from person to person. The final was intimidating to me at first because it was worth 40% of our grade, but it ended up being based mostly on concepts that we had been going over the most throughout the quarter and was very doable.

The best advice I can give when registering is try your best to get into Danny (Daniel McCoy)'s discussion if you can. He wrote the questions for the quizzes so he would place most emphasis on the topics we needed to study for them (he also puts them on slides which are shared with the rest of the class). I don't think students in other sections had this advantage, but hopefully in the future discussions will be more consistent regardless of the TA in charge of them.

Overall, I'd recommend this class as a GE or if you're just interested in the topic.

Bianchi is SUCH a good professor! His lectures are interesting, and tbh the only ones I actually attended this quarter. Its a good/easy GE, and I have no background in climate change studies whatsoever yet I still got an A. There is a midterm and a final, and one homework packet due roughly every two weeks. The tests are doable, and he gives a super generous curve, with a 77% still being an A- ! So definitely take this class if you get the opportunity.

Bianchi's a king. Adds a bit of chaos to each lecture, which is so entertaining

I took this class my first quarter as a first-year, and liked it much more than I thought. Classes pertaining to physical geography were not really my forte, but I heard great things about Professor Bianchi and decided to take it. No regrets, really - it's quite an easy GE with interesting material that is not too hard to cover. Professor Bianchi makes the tests and material easier to digest as well, without too many tedious requirements. His tests consist of multiple-choice and short-answer questions. While some of the multiple choice questions can be slightly tricky, most are easy, and the short answer questions are graded quite leniently so your overall marks will probably be alright. The curve for the class is also pretty generous, so in terms of grades, it's nothing to worry about. Considering my lack of talent in this subject, my grade proves that the professor was really good and the class caters well to beginners :)

Simply but, this class was fun and easy. I took AP environmental science in High school which definitely made this course easier. I took it with the lab so I had 1 hw assignment a week that would take 2-3 hours to complete. That's it. I studied for the midterm/ final by reading over his slides. That's it. Keep in mine I attended every lecture and discussion (but you don't really have to because slides are posted for lecture, and you don't need to go to discussion). The course material is interesting, applicable, and important in our lives today.

Bianchi is a super sweet/smiley guy.
My TA Victor Pinto was super friendly and sweet too.

Labs are super hard and do not correlate at all with the class. I asked for help (both the prof and the TA) and I got nothing but to review the slides. The slides do not even give examples of the assignments nor anything helpful. Overall, a waste of time. This is not an easy lab nor an easy class. I believed the reviews on bruinwalk and they were a complete lie (as usual). The Professor is nice but it does not make up for the lack of help he can provide nor how vague he is when it comes to explaining anything. The TA was the least helpful out of everyone. In fact, all the TAs for this class are moody, snobby and rude in general. I wish I hadn't taken this class.

Honestly. I don’t really recommend this class because of the T.A.’s. They aren’t really helpful at all and grade way too harshly. This could be a fun class if it wasn’t for them. most of the T.A.’s deduct points if you get a question wrong l. So let’s say in total you get a 25/31. You can end up getting a 18/31 because you missed the question that was worth 5 points and another that was worth 2. Honestly, this class shouldn’t be a G.E.