MSc Climate Change

Course Summary

• Type: MSc
• Location: Norwich
• Duration: 1 Year
• Deadline: 31-07-2013

Course Description

This course provides an authoritative assessment of the subject, including recent climate history, present-day variations and climate prediction, the ways in which ideas of climate change impact on the environment, society and human welfare, and the role of climate science in policy development. Its temporal focus spans the Holocene period through to the year 2100, with particular emphasis on contemporary issues. You are encouraged to interact with the course content through a series of student-led debates.

The course covers the fundamentals of the changing climate, including the Earth’s energy balance, the general circulation of the atmosphere, causes of climate change and variability and the greenhouse effect. You will also learn about research methods, consisting of empirical approaches to climate reconstruction (e.g. tree ring analysis), data preparation and analysis, detection of anthropogenic changes and theoretical or model-based approaches to climate prediction. You will study the evidence and causes of recent climate change with a focus on the period from 1 AD to the present, including the atmospheric build-up of greenhouse gases and its consequences for the behaviour of the Earth system.