ONLINE COURSE

Climate Change: A Short Introduction

Develop an informed perspective on climate change, its causes and dangers and what we can do about it.

First-hand knowledge from leading climate experts

Climate change is possibly the greatest challenge of our time, "the fight of our lives" in the words of the UN Secretary General at the COP26. We accept the scientific consensus that climate change is real and that it is related to human actions. Beyond that - the picture becomes blurry. How bad is it?? How fast is it happening? What are the probable consequences and what can we do to mitigate them?

To take action, we need a clear perspective. We must listen to scientists to develop a more accurate understanding of the key issues, take a stand and make informed decisions.

Lecturers

Our short introduction to this course includes original talks with the following experts:

Friederike Otto

Physicist and Climate Researcher, Imperial College London

Martin Siegert

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Cornwall) at the University of Exeter, University of Exeter

Yadvinder Malhi

Professor of Ecosystem Science, University of Oxford

Tim Lenton

Professor of Climate Change and Earth System Science, University of Exeter, UK

Gbemi Oluleye

Research Fellow in Environmental Policy, Imperial College London

Matthew Agarwala

Environmental Economist, University of Cambridge

Tamsin Edwards

Reader in Climate Change, King's College London

Course coordinator

Dr Yishay Mor

Dr Yishay Mor is EXPeditions' Chief Learning Officer. He designed this online course based on contributions to EXPeditions by leading climate change thinkers, researchers and scientists. He introduces each of the lectures, sets the learning objectives and identifies the main takeaways.

Dr Mor is an expert in learning design, educational technology and innovation in teaching.

What you'll learn

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

Define key concepts related to climate change
Relate the phenomena of climate change to human carbon emissions
Identify the major risks associated with human-induced climate change
Recognise the actions we need to take

The course includes

5 sections
9 lectures

Course duration

1 hour, 45 minutes

Price

19.99€

(Online price)

Course curriculum

Chapter	Description	Lectures	Completion time
1. Introduction	What should you expect to gain from participating in this course? The structure of the course and the rationale behind it.	1	5 mins
2. The crisis is now	What is the evidence for climate change? The climate crisis is already here, and its effects are everywhere around us, impacting our lives. We will learn more about extreme weather events, melting polar ice sheets, the decline of the great forests and the risks associated with each of these phenomena.	3	30 mins
3. How did we get here?	Having acknowledged the effects of climate change, we want to understand the underlying processes that drive them and identify the greatest risks for the future. We explore issues such as feedback loops and tipping points - where a tiny change in external conditions can cause the whole system to collapse. We introduce the idea of the Anthropocene – a geological epoch defined by human activity that challenges the way we view our relationship with nature.	2	20 mins
4. What do we do now?	Finally, we ask what needs to be done. To avoid catastrophic climate change, we need to reach net zero CO2 emissions in 30 years. What does that mean? Why is that our goal? How do we achieve it? We consider the implications for various industry sectors, policy and law and our personal lives. To end, we recognise the change of mindset required in our understanding of economic growth, and why we should invest in nature.	3	30 mins
5. Conclusions	The situation may seem very bleak; however, we end on a positive note. We are at a unique point in time, when we can choose our destiny, design a better future for humanity and the planet. We have to work together, as one, to improve our situation, to create a world where we limit the negative consequences of a low-carbon transition and improve the equality of opportunity around the world.	2	20 mins

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