Climate Change: Past, Present, and Future

This course provides a foundation in the science of Earth’s climate system and the processes responsible for past and present climate change. We begin by examining the evidence used to reconstruct past climates, drawing on both direct measurements and indirect proxy records, and how this evidence reveals the fundamental workings of Earth’s climate system. We then examine the Earth system processes that regulate climate and explore how human activities influence, and are influenced by, the climate system. The course then looks forward, introducing how climate models are used to project future change, how scientists assess uncertainty, and how climate science informs mitigation, adaptation, and climate-related policy decisions. Students will explore basic climate modeling using Python/Jupyter Notebooks and interactive online tools. No prior programming experience is required. By the end of the course, students will have a strong scientific foundation for interpreting climate information and applying it in professional practice and policy contexts.