The class was generally interesting but content wise it is crazy and you don't get a lot of time to practise the materials learnt. The professor's mid term was really difficult even though I prepared sufficiently. The mid term was badly made (lots of errors in the paper itself) and from what I gathered from the TAs, he made it at the last minute as well so the TAs did not have much time to review the test. My saving grace was my TA, Paige Hoel. The final was much easier probably due to all the complaints. There are other easier classes to take out there; this class is really not worth the effort.

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.

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!!

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!

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 really enjoyed this class it wasn't super hard but it does require effort to do the homework assignments but honestly it wasn't bad. His accent was a little distracting in the beginning but you get used to it, and it isn't hard to understand. Really recommend this class with Daniel McCoy as the TA, he's amazing! Helps you understand the main ideas and takeaway from class and what to expect on the tests, and can help clarify the homework problems. I really recommend this class if you want to learn more about climate change, and the best part is there's no textbook or readings, and he posts all his lecture slides.

Your success in this class lives and dies by your understanding/memory of the powerpoint slides. Coming to lectures is not entirely necessary, since he posts the slides online. However, attending the lecture helps with retention and makes last-minute cramming less stressful, so I would advise that you go anyway, especially since he's solidly engaging to listen to. I definitely thought the content was interesting, and not just brute-force memorization. You will not need to remember completely minute details, you can get a sense pretty easily about what types of stuff will be tested by what is emphasized.
The midterm and final are not hard. If you understand and remember the presentations well, they're an easy A. The homework is pretty easy and I would make absolutely sure you know how to do everything on it going into the midterm and final, since FRQs are largely based on homework, especially the ones where you have to do a bit of math. Going to discussion is unnecessary if you feel you have a good grasp on the class, but could be helpful if you don't get something.
He is a smart man who is clearly passionate about the subject, I would definitely recommend this course as a GE.

I took this class in my first quarter at UCLA and this was by far my favorite class of the quarter. Prof. Bianchi is a really nice, sweet professor who is very passionate yet rational about the subject matter. The workload is VERY light (4 pretty easy homeworks that take about 20 mins each). To be honest, if you go to lectures and actually care about what Prof. Bianchi is talking about (which we all should), it's really hard to miss out on getting an A.

The one thing I would say is that I definitely got the impression that my TA (McCoy) was superior to the other TAs. He knew the material really well, dropped a lot of hints about what would be on the midterm and final and held review sessions for both. I went to every discussion because they were really good for reviewing the material. He's also just a super nice, normal grad student who went to school in Hawaii and is an avid surfer. You get the picture.

Also, for the midterm and final, I just reviewed all the slides and memorized the different policies and treaties and got a low A on both. I got curved to an A+. Some people I know got WAY lower scores on the midterm and final and ended up with an A- because of the curve. It's REALLY friendly and Prof. Bianchi and the TAs make that clear.

While coming to class isn't necessary as slides are posted online, I would recommend going. I went to all of the lectures, did the 4 homework assignments, and went to about half of the discussions and got high "A"s on both the midterm and the final without additional studying. There are no readings. The curve is very generous.

Literally the worst class I have ever taken. Total of 4 homeworks, midterm, and final. Nobody goes to lecture, a complete waste of time since he just reads the slides. TAs are all assholes and grade the tests insanely hard. Its a GE and they grade like an upper div. They graded the midterm so tough, they would get offended that you didnt know the answer. No help on homeworks either or gave 0 feedback. My TA was at least mildly okay but would spend discussions going so far off topic where he would talk about what he’s learning in grad school and then finish with “you dont have to know this stuff”. Focuses mostly on the ocean because hes an oceanographer and will get offended if you dont understand at their level. Midterm and final review study guides were complete trash. Powerpoints of like 80 slides picked from random lectures that the TAs made when they dont know whats actually going to be on the final. Final was totally cummulative when we werent given any notice besides at the last lecture of the last class. Questions on the final and midterm werent even on the study guides. Literally avoid this class at all costs. The only good thing is the curve and the curve doesnt help much when you do awful on tests.

I usually dont think classes are that bad when I read these reviews, but just do yourself a favor and pick from the 100 other GEs offered.