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Climate change
Free statement of participation on completion
Climate change is a key issue on today's social and political agenda. This free course explores the basic science that underpins climate change and global warming.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- understand the physical basis of the natural greenhouse effect, including the meaning of the term radiative forcing
- know something of the way various human activities are increasing emmissions of the natural greenhouse gases, and are also contributing to sulphate aerosols in the troposphere
- demonstrate an awareness of the difficulties involved in the detection of any unusual global warming 'signal' above the 'background noise' of natural variability in the Earth's climate and of attributing (in whole or in part) any such signal to human activity
- understand that although a growing scientific consensus has become established through the IPCC, the complexities and uncertainties of the science provide opportunity for climate sceptics to challenge the Panel's findings.
First Published: 14/08/2012
Updated: 30/10/2018
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The minor criticism relates to the discussion of the structure of the atmosphere where it is stated that the temperature of the Troposphere reduces with altitude because it is being heated from below. In fact the dominant effect is that gases naturally cool as they expand and warm as they are compressed so in a well mixed atmosphere the pressure change with altitude creates a natural temperature gradient, the Adiabatic Lapse Rate, regardless of heating.
My major criticism is that this unit is very out of date. It was written in 2006 and most of its references are even older. Much has changed in that time and this hugely important subject needs to be as up to date as possible.