About this course: Our Earth’s Future is about the science of climate change and how to talk about it. You will learn from scientists in the fields of climatology, oceanography, Earth science, and anthropology who study how climate change is affecting people, populations, and ways of life. Explore the multiple lines of evidence for the human-induced climate change that is happening today, and consider what that means for the future of our planet. At the end of this course you will be able to understand key scientific principles, identify and address misconceptions, and contribute confidently to conversations about climate change.

Created by: American Museum of Natural History

Taught by: Debra Tillinger, Ph.D., Instructor

Commitment	1-3 hours/week
Language	English
How To Pass	Pass all graded assignments to complete the course.
User Ratings	4.6 stars Average User Rating 4.6See what learners said

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Climate Change Is Happening: See It

Human-induced climate change is happening. But in order to explore the evidence for this claim, we must first ask two questions: “What is science?” and “What is climate?” Once we understand how science is done and the basic dynamics of the climate system, we’l...

4 videos, 4 readings

Graded: Week One: Check Your Climate Knowledge

WEEK 2

It All Comes Down to the Ocean

Both the ocean’s sheer size – it covers seventy percent of our planet’s surface – and the properties of water make the ocean a major player in Earth’s climate system. An enormous reservoir of heat, the ocean is an important mechanism of heat storage and exchan...

4 videos, 1 reading

Graded: Week Two: Check Your Climate Knowledge

WEEK 3

Climate Change is Happening: Model It

An important counterpart to observational evidence is computer modeling, an essential tool for investigating how the climate system works and how it will respond to continued greenhouse gas buildup in the atmosphere. How do we know that a model is accurate? On...

3 videos, 2 readings

Graded: Week Three: Check Your Climate Knowledge

WEEK 4

Living with Climate Change

Climate change is often framed as a future phenomenon, but it’s clear that people are already experiencing the consequences. What are the effects? It depends to some extent on where, and how, you live. For example, in the Pacific Islands, where sea level ris...

5 videos, 2 readings

Graded: Week Four: Check Your Climate Knowledge

WEEK 5

Mitigate, Adapt, or Suffer?

What happens next? We don’t know, but the answer depends far less on scientific data than on human action—or inaction. The major uncertainty is the future rate of greenhouse gas emissions, which is impossible to predict because it depends on socioeconomic, tec...

3 videos, 6 readings

Graded: Week Five: Check Your Climate Knowledge

FAQs

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Coursework

Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.

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Creators

American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has advanced its global mission to discover, interpret, and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe through a wide-ranging program of scientific research, education, and exhibition.

Ratings and Reviews

Rated 4.6 out of 5 of 167 ratings

its a wonderful course to know about planet earth.

Very Informative i really enjoyed this course

Very informative. Truly enjoyed taking this course.

Very interesting and educating course. I learned so much! I had a lot of fun watching the lectures and reading the papers every week. This is an excellent course for learning about climate change and the future of our Earth. Extremely insightful; Our Earth's Future touches on many aspects of climate change and the environment that I learned about in my AP Environmental class, so it was an excellent review as well as adding on to my knowledge of the topic. I suggest this course for anyone who is not only interested in science, but also in the Earth and climate and possible scenarios for the future.

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