Macquarie University

Climate Change and The Climate System - ENVS804

Global climate change is one of the important issues facing humanity in the 21st century; the ability to mitigate or adapt to projected climate changes depends on developing an integrated perspective on the physical, biological, biogeochemical, socio-economic and cultural factors that influence the climate system. This unit focuses on the scientific framework for understanding the mechanisms of climate change, and covers (a) the physics of the climate system, (b) the multiple drivers of climate change, (c) the role of physical and biogeochemical feedbacks in the climate system, (d) climate change projections and (e) how socio-economic, biophysical and biogeochemical feedbacks could modulate future changes. It will provide students with the background to critically evaluate current understanding of the complex interactions that determine climate trajectories and the reliability of the tools used to make climate-change and climate-impact projections. The course is taught by a team of internationally renowned experts drawn from the University's Concentration of Research Excellence (CORE) in Climate Futures.