Course finder

<< return to browsing

Semester 1

Global Change (GEGR08011)

Subject

Geography

College

SCE

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

2

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Course Summary

This course examines the dynamics of the Earth System, paying particular attention to the concepts of the systems, thresholds, feedbacks, sensitivity and fragility. We explore the importance of past events in understanding the present, and vice versa.This course is open to all university students, although priority is given to students on the Geography degree programme, other GeoSciences degrees and Sustainable Development.

Course Description

This course examines the dynamics of ecosystems and the environment from local to global scales. In the course we focus on 1) understanding the drivers of environmental change from decades to millennia; 2) the responses of Polar, Temperate and Tropical regions to environmental change and their roles in further reinforcing change to both climate and ecosystems; 3) human-environment interactions and 4) methods and concepts that enable you to interpret environmental change. We examine the concepts of systems, thresholds, feedbacks, sensitivity and fragility, and how this relates and aids our understanding of environmental change. We examine the importance of past events in understanding of environmental change and explore the importance of past events in understanding the present and future.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 50%, Coursework 50%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Assessment Information

Coursework: 50%, Exam: 50%Coursework: Degree essay (2000 words max): 50%Exam: 2 answer questions (24 hour exam). Students are required to pass both the degree essay and exam to pass the course.There will also be three formative tutorial assessments as part of the course. Assessment deadlines:Week 8 - Degree essayWeeks 3, 5 and 9 - Tutorial assignments

view the timetable and further details for this course