The Changing Environment (20 cr)
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| GEOG2074 | Geography | 2 | 20 | Full Year UK |
- Code
- GEOG2074
- School
- Geography
- Level
- 2
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Full Year UK
Summary
This module considers the mechanisms for and evidence of, global environmental change. Divided into five main themes, the module focuses on current research into:
1. Impacts and prediction of future change
2. Instrumental and historical records of environmental change
3. Biological, chemical, sedimentary and morphological evidence of change
4. Areas of concern in human – environment interactions
5. Ocean-atmosphere-terrestrial connectivity and feedbacks.
Target Students
Open to all level 2 students, particularly of interest to those on Geography/Environmental Science degrees. Available to Natural Sciences students. Cannot be taken with GEOG2006 or GEOG2020.
Classes
Teaching will take place through a mixture of lectures and practicals.
Assessment
- 35% Group Coursework 1: groupwork podcast (Spring semester)
- 15% Coursework 2: 1,000 words (Spring semester)
- 50% Online Exam (2-hour): online exam (Autumn semester)
Assessed in both autumn & spring semest
Educational Aims
This module aims to provide: an understanding of the mechanisms driving global change at a range of different timescales, a knowledge of the existence and limitations of evidence for change, an appreciation of sources of information on this topic and how to integrate this knowledge into cogent written and oral arguments related to environmental change, past, present and future. An ability to evaluate the nature of change from literature-based evidence, a foundation of skills and knowledge for further study of instrumental records of environmental change, proxy records of change and the use of computer models.Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding:
- Proxy indicators of environmental change
- Role of connectivity and feedback mechanisms in driving change
- The importance of multi-proxy field and laboratory-based interpretation in environmental reconstruction
- The role of humans acting as drivers of change to the Earth System
Intellectual Skills:
- Ability to evaluate contested theories of environmental change
- Appreciation and synthesis of sources of information
- Development of reasoned arguments related to the study of Quaternary environmental change.
Professional Practical Skills:
- Evaluation of instrumental records and archive evidence in reconstructing past and present environments
- Ability to design and disseminate via podcast presentation.
Transferable Skills:
- Data presentation
- Data synthesis
- Data analysis
- Time management