Climate Change: The Big Picture

The key science, legal frameworks, adaptation and mitigation strategies, and proven personal impacts

What you'll learn
Gain a comprehensive knowledge of what global climate change is, from an internationally recognized specialist
Learn about the most relevant peer-reviewed science and critical legal frameworks focused upon global climate change
Learn about the important adaptation & mitigation strategies used to address global climate change
Identify and manage how to thoughtfully and effectively contend with global climate issues - whether you are a world leader or interested citizen
Requirements
No experience is required. You will learn everything you need to know to help enable you to more effectively contend with global climate change issues
Description
Climate change is a universal and complex set of issues. There are numerous natural events and cycles which impact the global climate. For example, volcanic activity, solar variations, axial precession, ocean currents, El Nino-La Nina cycles, and Pacific Decadal Oscillation. These are areas that we will explore during this course. Then there is what is known as human-induced or anthropogenic climate change. These are changes in the global climate that are attributed to human activities that considerably increase levels of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (otherwise known as CO2), as well as methane, nitrous oxide (otherwise known as NOx) and fluorinated gases. All of these are gases which prevent heat from leaving our atmosphere and exacerbate what is known as the greenhouse effect. These are also areas that we will be examining during this course. Our exploration of climate change will be based upon peer-reviewed evidence. During our exploration we will be looking primarily at the practical elements and issues. This course begins by defining both the terms climate change and global warming, before taking a visual journey to get a glimpse of some of the Earth’s natural environments and of the species who call Earth home. The purpose of the journey is to help lend context to some of the fundamental reasons why we are learning about climate change and how to properly address it. Next, we will look at what the Greenhouse Effect is and how it is changing, before exploring the natural events and cycles that impact the Earth’s climate, oceans and surface conditions. From there we shall examine the anthropogenic impacts on the global climate. Then we will conclude with the effective global efforts that are being made to contend with climate change. Efforts which include technologies, legal frameworks and realistic adaptations to our personal behavior. The overall goal of this course is to help clarify the fundamentals of climate change and to provide the knowledge of how to contend with it in a meaningful and confident way.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Section A: Introduction and visual section to establish context

Lecture 2 Section B: The deep dive into the relevant science and experience

Lecture 3 Section C: The summary and closing portion of the course

Lecture 4 Assignment 4: Exercise

Lecture 5 Assignment 5: Exercise

World leaders, industry leaders, policy makers, teachers, students, and all people who want to gain a more indepth knowledge of global climate change and how to contend with it effectively.