CLIMATE CHANGE

EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN

We hear a lot about climate change. We accept the scientific consensus that climate change is real, and that it is related to human actions. But beyond that - the picture becomes noisy. How bad is it? How fast is it happening? What are the probable consequences, and what can we do to mitigate them?

This short knowledge expedition introduces you to three of the world's best minds in the field and their perspectives, so that you can develop a more accurate understanding of the key issues, engage in a conversation with your peers and start taking actions.

START YOUR JOURNEY

ONE TOPIC
THREE OF THE BEST EXPERTS
THREE 6’ VIDEOS
A PRIVATE DISCUSSION SPACE

ALL IN A CLICK BELOW FOR FREE

YOUR GUIDES

Fredi Otto

Friederike Otto is Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London.
She works on answering the question of whether and to what extent human-induced climate change alters the likelihood and intensity of extreme weather events and, in particular, how these changes and extreme events affect people across the world.
Yadwinder Malhi

Yadvinder Malhi is a Professor of Ecosystem Science at the University of Oxford, and I study the living world, how it works and how it changes.
He is an ecosystem scientist who explores the functioning of the biosphere and its interactions with climate change.He is the Director of the Oxford Centre for Tropical Forests which addresses major issues facing tropical forests, and lead the Ecosystems Programme of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford, which does diverse research on ecosystems.
Martin Siegert

Martin Siegert is Professor of Geosciences at Imperial College London and Co-Director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change.
He is an Antarctic glaciologist who studies how the ice sheets have changed in the past, how they are changing now, and how they will change in the future.

Extreme weather events

● Recognise the link between fossil fuels usage and extreme weather events
● Assess the effect of extreme weather events on the environment and human society
● Evaluate the ways in which scientists predict future weather events and their relation to fossil fuels use
• The way climate change manifests is not through global mean temperature but through an increase in the frequence and the intensity of extreme weather events.
• The change in extreme weather events is a combination of two effects: the thermodynamic effect (more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere) and the dynamic effect (change in the atmospheric circulation).
• By burning fossil fuels, we have changed the composition of the atmosphere through greenhouse gases and more water vapour and also changed how the atmospheric circulation behaves. This means we’ve changed how weather systems move and where they develop.
• These effects can be very different depending on the part of the world where they take place and the season we’re in. These two effects would either cancel each other or both effects could work in the same direction.
• While on the global scale we can say we have more heatwaves and more extreme rainfall, whether that matters very much depends on what kind of extreme events the community is vulnerable to.

The Anthropocene

A net zero future

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● Recognise the concept of the Anthropocene, a new geological era shaped by human activity
● Acknowledge our role in climate change
● Foster a change of mindset with the recognition that the Earth is a finite planet with limited resources
• We started noticing in the 1950s that carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere was climbing year after year, which was linked to fossil fuel combustion and emissions. This was one of the first signals that we had moved into the Anthropocene.
• Humanity is a significant agent in transforming that planet's basic nature and changing its atmosphere, ocean, and biosphere. The word that emerged for a human-dominated planet is the Anthropocene.
• The Anthropocene mindset attempts to underline that limitless growth is impossible. We need to start redesigning society at a fundamental level so that it may sustain itself on a finite planet.
• Climate denialism is a real turning back on 200 years of scientific progress and enlightenment and is a rejection of the scientific process using balanced evidence.

● Analyse the rise in CO2 emissions since the Industrial Revolution, and its consequences
● Acknowledge the necessity of attaining net zero carbon emissions
● Identify drivers for action in all sectors to reach net zero carbon emissions
● Accept that responsibility for curbing carbon emissions is on every one of us
• Climate change is the most serious issue that our planet faces. Since the Industrial Revolution, the level of CO2 has shot up from 280 parts per million to over 415 parts per million.
• The global warming that we are responsible for will be around for many generations after us. However, there are many actions we can take. If we reduce emissions to net zero by 2050, it’s possible we can restrict global warming to a further 0.5 degrees
• Currently, our economy is entirely based on the burning of fossil fuels. We’re going to have to form a different type of economy that favours a zero carbon transition. We have about 30 years, between now and 2050, to lead to zero carbon.
• There are still people who deny that climate change is happening. Others say that it’s not as bad as we’re being told. Science still has much to do. However, you don’t have to go too deeply into the science to know how obvious the message is.
• What we have to understand is that there are vested interests at stake. There are people and organisations that make money out of the fossil fuel economy and it’s in their personal interests to make sure that we continue to operate in this way.