ENV-7014A - Climate Change: Physical Science Basis
Course materials | Description | Convenor | Coursework | Schedule | Learning Objectives / Course Content | Recommended texts
The information provided here is still being updated for 2023-24.
Check back at the start of the semester for the final schedule.
Lectures, seminars and practical classes will all be "in-person" except where stated.
Course Materials
Items such as lecture slides, lecture notes and copies of published scientific papers that some lecturers may make available are placed on the UEA Blackboard website for access restricted to current students only. The UEA Blackboard website is accessible through the my UEA using your UEA username and password. If you are enrolled on this module, you will automatically have access to it under the "Blackboard Learn" button on the Portal.
You are expected to regularly check this webpage, your UEA timetable on Outlook and your UEA email for information, including notification of changes in room location, lecture times, etc.
Description
Climate change and variability have played major roles in shaping human history and the prospect of a warming world as a result of human activities (global warming) presents society with an increasing challenge over the coming decades.
This module covers the science of climate change and our current understanding of natural and anthropogenic effects on climate. It provides details about the approaches, methods and techniques for understanding the history of climate change and for developing climate projections for the next 100 years, supporting further study of the scientific or policy aspects of the subject in either an academic or applied context.
The module consists mostly of lectures, together with some seminars presented by staff and students. Practical classes will introduce the use of computer-based models of the climate system.
There are no formal pre-requisites for this module, though students are expected to have the general mathematical and scientific backgrounds needed for university-level study.
This 20-credit module takes place during all twelve weeks of Semester I.
Module Organiser
Coursework
There is no exam for this module. It is assessed by one piece of written coursework that integrates across the learning objectives of the module. This single assessment is supported by three 'formative' activities.
- Formative coursework #1 (Week 7): student-led group seminar presentations on controversial climate change topics. There will be an opportunity to debate opposing issues during class. You will gain experience in assessing published work on a particular topic, with your literature research done in groups to share the workload. You will receive verbal feedback from the questions/discussion with the class after your group presentation, along with written comments from the module organiser.
- Formative coursework #2 (Week 11): individual write-ups of the IT-lab practical on the Kaya Identity. You will receive feedback via the provision of answers on Blackboard and discussion in class.
- Formative coursework #3 (Weeks 2-9): short quizzes set on Blackboard on topics relevant to the coursework topics throughout the semester. You will receive feedback via the provision of answers on Blackboard and discussion in class.
- Summative coursework (100%): an integrative climate science essay that combines insights you
gain from classes, from your reading of relevant literature on a selected topic and from the second
practical class on climate modelling and detection/attribution.
Coursework will be set in Week 4, the key practical class in in Week 5, and the submission deadline is during the first week of the January assessment period. The topics integrate learning across the scope of the module.
The marking criteria for all coursework assignments are the ENV marking criteria for essay-type answers. These are available from the module Blackboard pages, please read them carefully and note that these differ from the standard UEA marking criteria.
Further details of the coursework will available when the work is set, so you must attend those classes when it is set, or contact the person setting it (see schedule below) if you are unable to attend those classes.
All coursework, including formative coursework, is compulsory.
Schedule for 2023
(subject to change; last updated 20 September 2023)
This module is in Semester I (Autumn), Weeks 1-12. The classes are mostly 9am-11am Tuesdays and 2pm-4pm Fridays, but the four practical classes are 3 hours long from 2pm-5pm on some Fridays.
Note that all classes begin on the hour and finish at 10 minutes to; i.e. 9-11 is really 0900-1050.
The aim is that all classes will be in-person. If we offer any with online access then we will make those available via the the module Blackboard page.
Some preparatory reading, quiz questions or pre-recorded videos will be set each week and should be done prior to the lectures for that week. This material will be given to you electronically via the UEA Blackboard.
Each teaching session is a lecture, except where stated in bold below.
| Week | Date | Time | Location | Topic | Lecturer |
| 1 | Fri 29 Sep | 2-4 | C.HALL 01.07 | Introduction to the module & to the climate system | BW |
| 2 | Tue 3 Oct | 9-11 | C.HALL 01.07 | The instrumental climate record | PJ |
| Fri 6 Oct | 2-4 | Pre-recorded | Palaeoclimate reconstructions #1 | TO | |
| 3 | Tue 10 Oct | 9-11 | C.HALL 01.07 | Palaeoclimate reconstructions #2 | TO |
| Fri 13 Oct | 2-5 | LSB 02.102 | Practical class: Climate data: tools & data rescue | IH, TO | |
| 4 | Tue 17 Oct | 9-11 | C.HALL 01.07 | Climate change, energy balance & the greenhouse effect Also: Setting & discussion of Coursework |
TO |
| Fri 20 Oct | 2-4 | C.HALL 01.07 | Natural and anthropogenic causes of climate change | TO | |
| 5 | Tue 24 Oct | 9-11 | C.HALL 01.07 | Climate modelling #1 | BW |
| Fri 27 Oct | 2-5 | LSB 02.102 | Practical class: Climate modelling and detection/attribution | TO | |
| 6 | Tue 31 Oct | 9-11 | C.HALL 01.07 | Climate modelling #2 | BW |
| Fri 3 Nov | 2-4 | C.HALL 01.07 | Detection & attribution of climate change | TO | |
| 7 | Tue 7 Nov | 9-11 | C.HALL 01.07 | Seminars: debate controversial climate topics (formative coursework) | TO, BW |
| Fri 10 Nov | 2-4 | C.HALL 01.07 | Seminars: debate controversial climate topics (formative coursework) | TO, BW | |
| 8 | Tue 14 Nov | 9-11 | C.HALL 01.07 | Climate projections: patterns, dynamics & feedbacks | BW |
| Fri 17 Nov | 2-4 | C.HALL 01.07 | Constructing policy-relevant projections of climate change #1 | TO | |
| 9 | Tue 21 Nov | 9-11 | C.HALL 01.07 | Constructing policy-relevant projections of climate change #2 | TO |
| Fri 24 Nov | 2-5 | LSB 02.102 | Practical class: Constructing policy-relevant projections of climate change | TO | |
| 10 | Tue 28 Nov | 9-11 | C.HALL 01.07 | ENSO, NAO & modes of climate variability under climate change | BW |
| Fri 1 Dec | 2-4 | C.HALL 01.07 | Industry presentation: Applications of climate scenarios: the water industry | GD | |
| 11 | Tue 5 Dec | 9-11 | C.HALL 01.07 | Past & future changes in weather/climate extremes | BW |
| Fri 8 Dec | 2-5 | LSB 02.102 | Practical class: Kaya Identity & climate scenarios | TO, MJ | |
| 12 | Tue 12 Dec | 9-11 | C.HALL 01.07 | Ice sheets & sea level rise | BW |
| Fri 15 Dec | 2-4 | C.HALL 01.07 | Discussion of Blackboard quizzes, formative & summative CW, results of data rescue | TO | |
| JA1 | Mon 15 Jan | Coursework to be submitted electronically (note this is the first Monday of the January assessment period) | |||
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Learning Objectives, Learning Outcomes and Course Content
The learning objectives of this module are:
- Further develop students’ knowledge of changes to the Earth’s climate, how they are observed, modelled and predicted, and develop an appreciation for the applications of climate science.
- This module includes topics about the tools that we apply in climate science, such as direct and indirect observations, simple and complex models, and statistical analysis to attribute observed changes to specific causes.
- The opportunity to develop key transferable skills such as critical assessment of scientific evidence, report writing, giving and responding to presentations, and understanding how practitioners use scientific knowledge.
After completing this module, ENV-7014A students should be able to:
- Identify and distinguish natural and anthropogenic causes of climate change, and examine the mechanisms through which they operate.
- Evaluate the knowledge that can be gained from observations and models of the climate system, and their inherent limitations and errors.
- Critically assess published scientific research that is relevant to the anthropogenic climate change issue, including contested topics within this field.
Starting with an introduction to the changing climate, techniques and approaches, and the main themes in current climate research, the module is structured around three topics:
- fundamentals of the changing climate: techniques and approaches, including the Earth's energy balance, causes of climate change and the greenhouse effect;
- research methods, consisting of empirical approaches to climate reconstruction (such as tree-ring analysis), assembly of observational data (focusing on the global temperature record) and data analysis (causes of recent climate change) and theoretical or model-based approaches (including an introduction to energy balance models and general circulation models);
- the history of climate change and potential causal mechanisms, concentrating on the period from 1000 AD to the present and climate projections out to 2100 AD.
Recommended texts
See "Reading List" on the module's Blackboard page for this information.