Macquarie University

Environmental Change - ENVE340

This unit investigates environmental records to understand how landscapes respond to climate and environmental change. This unit considers historical climate changes and environmental response, and how the prehistoric record from sediment, tree rings, ice cores, marine cores and landforms can be used to reconstruct past environments to gain an understanding of how the earth system evolves. These records are then related to evidence of environmental change seen in the local Australian landscape, and investigated during field excursions, including a week long field trip during the mid-semester break. This unit provides case studies of how these reconstructions have influenced our current understanding of how landscapes evolve. Examples include: the extent of glaciation in Kosciusko; reconstructions of how environmental change in Africa and Asia shaped the evolution of early humans; and how climatic change during the past hundred thousand years affected sediment transport and drainage systems in the Murray Darling basin. This unit also discusses how evidence of change in the local region can inform land management practices with the onset of climate change.

Timetable Information

For unit timetable information and session dates for external offerings please visit the Timetables@Macquarie Website