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.
教学大纲 - 您将从这门课程中学到什么
周
1完成时间为 2 小时
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’ll focus on how scientists study ice cores, and see how evidence of climate change in the past is fundamental to understanding what lies ahead.
4 个视频 （总计 49 分钟）, 4 个阅读材料, 1 个测验
4 个视频
What is science? What is climate?15分钟
Communicating Climate Change22分钟
Scientists at Work: Greenland Ice Core7分钟
4 个阅读材料
Syllabus10分钟
Resources10分钟
Educator Resources10分钟
Energy Balance and the Greenhouse Effect10分钟
1 个练习
Week One: Check Your Climate Knowledge14分钟
周
2完成时间为 1 小时
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 exchange with the atmosphere, which has important implications for climate change. We’ll focus on one of the consequences of warming: melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. How might this melting lead to future sea level rise? Scientists are studying geological records of past warming, and associated sea level rise, to see what the future may bring.
4 个视频 （总计 28 分钟）, 1 个阅读材料, 1 个测验
4 个视频
Melting Ice, Rising Seas7分钟
Oceanography 10115分钟
Arctic Sea Ice: The New Normal3分钟
1 个阅读材料
The Role of the Ocean in Climate Change10分钟
1 个练习
Week Two: Check Your Climate Knowledge12分钟
周
3完成时间为 1 小时
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? One way is to consider a past event, enter the historic climate data, and see if the model successfully “hindcasts” the event in reasonable detail. Ever more detailed, today’s supercomputer models can even help identify the potential causes of climate events on a regional scale, as climatologist Dr. Michela Biasutti explains using her research on droughts in sub-Saharan Africa.
3 个视频 （总计 32 分钟）, 2 个阅读材料, 1 个测验
3 个视频
Climate Change: Understanding the Forecast21分钟
What are Feedback and Forcings?7分钟
2 个阅读材料
Connecting Drought in Africa's Sahel to Climate Change10分钟
Climate Models10分钟
1 个练习
Week Three: Check Your Climate Knowledge18分钟
周
4完成时间为 1 小时
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 rise is threatening entire ways of life, communities have come together to prepare. What happens when there’s no place to go? Coastal communities aren’t the only ones at risk; food insecurity may one day threaten us all. And of course, humans are not the only species affected, and some will be at even greater risk in the future.
5 个视频 （总计 31 分钟）, 2 个阅读材料, 1 个测验
5 个视频
Patterns11分钟
Climate Change: A View from the Pacific12分钟
Declining Sea Ice Affects Caribou2分钟
Protecting Wildlife in a Changing Climate3分钟
2 个阅读材料
The Impact of Climate Change on Pacific Island Peoples10分钟
Consequences of Climate Change10分钟
1 个练习
Week Four: Check Your Climate Knowledge12分钟
4.7
81 个审阅热门审阅
创建者 OW•May 24th 2016
Lectures are interesting and understandable. It brought the role the ocean plays into sharp focus and told me things I had not heard before. Now if our politicians would just take the class!
创建者 WJ•Jun 10th 2017
Good general introduction to climate change. Does a good job of highlighting both the science behind climate change as well as its impact on human communities now and in the future.
讲师
Debra Tillinger, Ph.D.
Instructor关于 美国自然历史博物馆
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.
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