Climate Change

Climate Change, a topic that includes Global Warming, refers to the relatively abrupt shift in weather patterns that has occurred during the last few decades. This free online course examines (1) the factors responsible for climate change; (2) the biological and sociological consequences of such changes; and (3) the possible engineering, economic, and legal solutions to avoid more extreme perturbations. It includes a free multi-media textbook, introductory videos, course tools, weekly themes, daily mini-lectures, weekly assignments, and exams.

Videos

Tools

Themes

Mini-Lectures

Assignments

Exams

Introduction to the course & presentations about the course.


Introductory video (2 min)	Workshop presentation (7 min)	Interview video (28 min)

Syllabus, bio, textbook, how-to, online course report, & course development.

1. Course syllabus

2. Instructor’s biography

3. Textbook

4. How-to videos

5. Online course report

6. Course development

Learning objectives, mini-lectures, assignment, & readings for each week.

1. Climate research

2. Earth’s history

3. Forcing factors

4. Climate predictions

5. Biosphere & climate

6. Transportation

7. Electric power, etc.

8. Economics

9. Environmental law

10. Culture & climate

Video segments, data visualizations, & quizzes for each day. Click the Play Button to begin a 4-minute video segment. Click the forward arrow on the bottom left to see subsequent quizzes, data visualizations, or video segments in a 12-minute mini-lecture.

1. Importance	11. GCMs	21. Precipitation/Salt	31. Solar/Geo/Tidal	41. Intangibles
2. CO2 Change	12. Future GHGs	22. pH	32. Ag Mitigation	42. Discount Rate
3. Proxy Measures	13. Future Climate	23. Transport Intro	33. Industries	43. International Law
4. Snowball Earth	14. Photosynthesis	24. CAFE	34. Buildings Part 1	44. UNCLOS
5. Ancient Earth	15. Water	25. Hydrogen	35. Buildings Part 2	45. Montreal/Kyoto
6. Modern Earth	16. Nitrogen	26. Electric Car	36. Geoengineering	46. Three Treaties
7. Gaia	17. Hypothesis	27. Biofuels	37. Economics Intro	47. Culture
8. Solar Orbit	18. CO2 Sensing	28. Fossil Power	38. Monopolies	48. Optimism
9. Electromagnetic	19. Polar Animals	29. CO2 Capture	39. The Commons
10. GH Effect	20. Organisms	30. Nuke/H2O/Wind	40. Cost/Benefit

Instructions and rubrics for exercises & essays for each week.

1. View Davis’ climate

2. Describe hometown

3. Read about a GCM

4. Explain a GCM

5. Play with polar bears

6. Adopt a species

7. Tally carbon footprint

8. Reduce C footprint

9. Relate to USA culture

10. Pick a culture

Sample questions from the first & second halves of the course.

Midterm: Lectures 1 – 22

Final: Lectures 23 – 48