AHT404 Climate Change Impacts, Mitigation and Adaptation (8)
AbstractThis subject aims to give a comprehensive overview of the science and policy issues surrounding current and likely global Climate Change. |
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+ Subject Availability Modes and Location
Session 2 | Distance | Orange Campus |
Continuing students should consult the SAL for current offering details: AHT404
Where differences exist between the Handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.
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Subject informationDuration | Grading System | School: |
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One session | HD/FL | School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences |
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Learning OutcomesUpon successful completion of this subject, students should:
- Be able to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of past and present climates, the science behind anthropogenic global warming, the current state of knowledge on likely Climate Change scenarios, and mitigation and adaptation efforts.
- be able to demonstrate broad skills in climatology, geomorphology, soil science, landscape history and environmental science as they affect climate change issues.
- be able to demonstrate an understanding of current Government policy and management systems and develop problem-solving skills as applied to Climate Change adaptation and mitigation options.
- be able to accurately assess the significance of new Climate Change research and will gain sufficient knowledge to be able to adjudicate between conflicting evidence and theories on anthropogenic global warming. |
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SyllabusThe subject will cover the following topics:
- Basic Climatology and weather patterns influencing Australia
- - ENSO
- - IOD
- - SAM
- Paleoclimates
- - Evidence for glacial/interglacial environments
- - Geomorphological evidence
- - Ice cores
- - Species extinctions etc.
- Factors influencing climate fluctuations at varying scales
- - Milankovitch Cycles and planetary scale impacts
- - Glacial/interglacial
- - Holocene
- - Last 1000 years (eg. medieval warm period, Little Ice Age)
- - Post industrial era
- The Greenhouse Effect
- - Natural forcing
- - Water vapour
- - Solar inputs
- - CO2 and its feedbacks with temperature
- - Anthropogenic forcing and its causes
- - CO2
- - Methane
- - Nitrous Oxide
- - Water vapour in contrails etc.
- - Sectorial breakdown eg. Transport, Stationary Energy, Agriculture
- The Global Carbon Balance
- - Carbon pools and their relative significance
- - Ocean
- - Atmosphere
- - Terrestrial pools eg. soils, vegetation
- - Residence times and fluxes between pools
- Climate modelling and GCMs
- - Scope, parameters and limitations of currently used GCMs
- - Model skill (how well do these models explain current climate)
- - Scenario building ? (likely input parameters)
- - Realisations (different model runs and their limitations)
- Evidence for Recent Climate Change
- - Global air temperature records (ground based and satellite)
- - Sea level rises
- - Arctic sea ice decline
- - Global glacial retreat
- - Animal behavioural modifications
- - Changes in floral timings, eg. flowering, fruit set, harvest times
- - Species extinctions and vulnerabilities
- - Increases in extreme events eg. heatwaves, fires, drought severity, hurricanes
- - Ocean acidification
- Future Climate Scenarios and the IPCC
- - Likely climates in 50, 100 years
- - Positive and negative feedbacks as the climate warms
- Eg. permafrost melting
- Impacts of impending climate change
- - Rates of change, magnitude of change and their implications for humans and natural resources
- - Likely risks and their magnitudes
- - Potential threshold events and the likelihood of exceedance
- - Scale of impacts
- Adaptation and Mitigation Responses
- - Policy
- - IPCC and global responses
- - Australian policy responses (AGO, NCAS etc.)
- - Emissions trading/carbon credit schemes
- - Science
- - Role of soil and land management etc.
- - Monitoring natural resource condition
- - Carbon accounting
- Change management theory and practice
- - What is change, and how do we manage it?
- - Monitoring climate change
- - Managing climatic variability in agriculture
- The role of Governments, Business, NGOs, other Institutions and the general populace in adapting to, and mitigating climate change
- - Sustainability audits
- - Recycling (closing the resource use loop)
- - Environmental education
- - Renewable energy technologies (solar, wind, waves, tides)
- - New industry opportunities (eg. biochar)
- Impact of climate change on fundamentals in science (ie. Does a trending climate change the basis of many scientific assumptions? Are there opportunities for new scientific endeavours as a result of rethinking these assumptions?)
- - Future Research opportunities
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The information contained in the 2016 CSU Handbook was accurate at the date of publication: 06 September 2016. The University reserves the right to vary the information at any time without notice.