Climate Change: The Science

Syllabus

• Week 1

  Introduction to Climate Science

  • Welcome!

    Professor Tim Lenton and Dr Damien Mansell welcome you to the course and introduce you to some of the key principles of climate science.

  • What is climate?

    Professor Tim Lenton welcomes you to the course and introduces you to some of the key principles of climate science.

  • The climate system, feedbacks and self-regulation

    In this activity you will examine how the Earth’s climate can be conceptualised as a system. Professor Tim Lenton examines the importance of understanding our climate as a system controlled by feedbacks and natural cycles.

  • Summary and Reflect

    Test your knowledge in this week's quiz, and reflect on what you've learnt so far

• Week 2

  Evidence for Climate Change

  • Ancient past climate change

    Professor Tim Lenton looks back at Earth's 4.5 billion year history to help us better understand natural variations in the Earth's climate

  • Recent past climate change

    In this activity you will examine the key predictable and unpredictable determinants of climate change. Also you will exemplify the use of proxy climate records with reference to climate data collected from tree ring analysis.

  • Signs of Climate Change

    What evidence do we have of the signals of climate change, including an increase in extreme weather events? Professor Mat Collins will be show you how observing our weather and climate has provided us with key indicators of change

  • Test and Reflect

    Test your knowledge and reflect on what you've learnt in week 2

• Week 3

  Impacts of Climate Change

  • Impacts on the Cryosphere

    In this activity you will focus on the impact of climate change on the cryosphere. Dr Damien Mansell investigates how the cryosphere responds to climate change and what impact these changes might have on our planet

  • Impacts on the oceans

    Discover the scale of the impact of increased carbon dioxide emissions on the chemistry of our oceans and explore the impact on the marine environment and how this will affect human activity.

  • Summary

    Test your understanding and reflect on findings from Week 3

• Week 4

  Looking ahead...

  • Modelling future climates

    How do we predict what the future of the climate might look like? Professor Peter Cox visits the Met Office to explain how climate models are produced

  • Welcome to the Anthropocene!

    We are entering a new chapter of Earth’s history – the Anthropocene. What do the next 1000 years hold for the Earth?

  • Course round-up

    Finish up the course with one final quiz, our last weekly feedback video and a look to how you can continue studying Climate Change with the University of Exeter.

Who will you learn with?