The Science of Our Changing Climate - WEA Sydney

The Science of Our Changing Climate

In the words of the latest IPCC Assessment Report; Human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming, with global (average) surface temperature reaching 1.1⁰C above 1850-1900 in 2011-2020. How did the world’s scientists come to such a powerful conclusion? To appreciate both ‘why’ and ‘how’ we need to understand two things: How does our planet operate under ‘normal’ conditions? How has human activity moved us away from that normal? The answers to both are rooted in Science.

DELIVERY MODE

  • Face-to-Face

SUGGESTED READING

  • The Science of Our Changing Climate (Cambridge University Press, 2024), ISBN: 9781009372336

COURSE OUTLINE

  • The chemistry of the greenhouse gases: their sources and sinks
  • How aerosol particles affect our environment
  • The variation of pressure, temperature and water vapour in our atmosphere
  • How thermal gradients drive atmospheric circulation and weather
  • The laws of electromagnetic radiation, and their impact on global climate
  • How greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation
  • The role of the oceans in climate variability
  • How we build, and test, climate models
  • Can our models account for climate change in the recent past?
  • What are our models telling us about the future?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

  1. Understand how, and why, the composition of our atmosphere is changing.
  2. Understand the forces that drive the circulation of our atmosphere.
  3. Appreciate the difference between climate variability and climate change.
  4. Understand how we build models of our climate.
  5. Appreciate the reasons why climate scientists have the confidence to make the statements they make.
Filter Courses