There are considerable concerns about how rising atmospheric CO2 will affect Earth's climate and marine biogeochemistry in the future. Computer simulations are used to predict future climate changes, but these projections remain very uncertain and the capacity of climate models to reproduce long-term change needs to be thoroughly tested. The only way to do this is by testing model performance against geological archives of past climate changes.
You will examine how geoscientists reconstruct past climate changes combining data from the oceans, atmosphere, ice sheets, land surfaces, and vegetation, and how these relate to reconstructed changes in energy supply from the sun. One important topic that we will cover, for example, concerns the reasons for past atmospheric CO2 changes, and how these influenced the global climate.
The course covers the essential aspects needed for understanding the Earth's climate system such as Earth's energy balance; climate sensitivity; sea level and ice sheet changes; ocean circulation changes; nutrient cycling and atmospheric CO2 variations. You will learn how the geochemistry of natural palaeoclimate archives and numerical models are used to reconstruct the history of the climate system and identify the causes of climate change. Geochemical tools and proxies used to reconstruct climate changes through Earth's history will be explained. You will learn how to use box models to understand nutrient cycling and atmospheric CO2 changes. We will look in more detail at: the nature of, and relationships between, high-resolution ice-core records from Greenland and Antarctica; abrupt climate changes; the factors that affect short-term climate variability in Australia and how these are currently changing; and the science related to common misconceptions in climate change discussions. A key outcome of this course will be a firm understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological processes that control Earth's climate, and how they may interact to modulate climate change in the future.
In addition to research-based lectures and practicals, journal articles of greater conceptual difficulty will be made available for students who wish to explore their personal interests in climate change. The teaching material is focused around areas of active palaeoclimate research and presents students with an overview of the latest international scientific understanding of past climate changes and their relevance to the future.
Honours Pathway Option (HPO)
Additional readings of greater conceptual difficulty that require an advanced scientific understanding will be made available for students enrolled in the Honours Pathway Option (HPO). HPO students will be asked to answer additional and/or more challenging questions during exams.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Explain how the components of Earth’s climate system and carbon cycle have evolved through time.
- Describe in detail the positive and negative feedbacks in the Earth’s land-ocean-atmosphere system that control climate change on various timescales.
- Quantitatively analyse past climate change using elemental and isotopic tracers, palaeoclimate archives, and state-of-the-art geochronology.
- Develop a broad scientific basis for evaluating the likely causes and potential impacts of future climate change.
- Inform peers on how understanding past climate systems is important to the current debates about climate change.
Indicative Assessment
- - 3 exams - 25% each (75) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- - 2 assignments - 5% each (15) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- - 1 class presentation (15) [LO 5]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
A maximum of 39 hours of lectures/tutorials and 26 hours of practicals.
Inherent Requirements
Not yet determined
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Recommended but not essential:
W.F. Ruddiman, Earth’s Climate: Past and Future (2008), Freeman and Company, New York
Rohling, E.J., The oceans: a deep history. Princeton University Press, 272 pp., 2017.
Rohling, E.J., The climate question: natural cycles, human impact, future outlook. Oxford University Press, 162 pp., 2019.
Assumed Knowledge
The following courses are useful but are not actually required: EMSC 2021, EMSC 2019, EMSC3023, and/or EMSC3032Majors
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 2
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2019 | $3840 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2019 | $5460 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7940 | 22 Jul 2019 | 29 Jul 2019 | 31 Aug 2019 | 25 Oct 2019 | In Person | View |
