Taking it further

Working outside

Degrees and dollars

A shift in climate has effects more than those felt by the natural world: Explore the economic impact of climate change.

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Find out more about OU courses on offer and ways to study - order your guide to courses.

There's lots of ways to find out more about climate change:

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Courses

Free course material from OpenLearn

Global warming
This unit provides an introduction to global warming. It considers the history of global warming by looking at the pattern of ice ages and analyisis of recorded temperatures and it aims to gather meaningful information from this data. It will briefly assess the impact and influence of humans on global warming and, finally, will examine climate models and how to predict future changes.
You may also be interested in the following courses.
An introduction to sustainable energy
Why sustainable energy matters
Working with our environment

Courses

If you feel inspired by the Climate Change programmes to want to discover more about the way the world you live in works, the next step could be an Open University course. Here are a few courses selected by our experts:

Getting started

If you're coming totally fresh to studying science, this could be a great place to pick up the initial skills you'll need:

Discovering science [S103]
This first level course introduces a range of topics from global warming to the origin of life; ecology and genetics to earthquakes and volcanoes; chemical reactions and the structure of atoms to the origin of the universe. Important concepts, and scientific, mathematical and communication skills are developed in the context of these topics.

The next courses are all at level one:

Introducing Environment [Y161]
This short introductory course focuses upon scientific and technological aspects of the environment where you will consider the effects of human activities, such as farming. Topics include the biology of ecosystems and food chains, biodiversity, ecological sustainability and fossil fuels. This provides a brief survey of a very complicated subject, equipping you with some important concepts.

Modelling the climate [S199]
This short course provides an introduction to the sciences of weather, climate modelling and climate change. The course also presents climateprediction.net experiment, which has been developed to allow a state-of-the-art climate prediction model to be run on personal desktop computers. Climateprediction.net is a "distributed-computing" project, where the spare processing power of thousands of personal computers is used to contribute to a large-scale scientific experiment.

In this course you will also study the science underpinning the modelling of the Earth's climate at the same time as you run a unique version of this model on your own personal computer. Specifically you will learn about atoms and molecules, atmospheric composition and structure, energy transfers within the atmosphere, temperature, pressure, various weather phenomena including rainfall and clouds plus how all this is being simulated in your climate model running on your PC.

Life in the oceans: Exploring our blue planet [S180]
This course is linked to the spectacular Blue Planet BBC TV series. Using a variety of media, the course asks the following questions:
What are the challenges of living in the ocean environment, and how have marine organisms adapted to cope with them? Why do some parts of the ocean constantly teem with life, while others have seasonal bursts of activity? How do marine ecosystems differ from terrestrial ecosystems? How have our ideas about the deep ocean environment evolved? And why do discoveries in the abyssal depths continue to amaze us? The course covers aspects of marine biology, geology, chemistry and physics.

Working with our environment: Technology for a sustainable future [T172]
This course will suit you if you are concerned about your own impacts on the environment, about global environment issues, and the role of technology in creating a sustainable future Its themes are You and the environment, Travelling Light, Food chains and Thinking globally, plus Energy, Resources and Human and ecosystem health.

Second-level courses

The following second-level courses are slightly more advanced:

Environment [U216]
Environmental concerns are broad ranging. They include global climate change; anxieties about food, polluted air, management of waste, squandering natural resources, disappearance of species and habitats, concerns over the consequences of our actions for future generations and disquiet over the genetic modification of living organisms. This exciting and innovative course provides an introduction to the scientific, technological and social factors that are important in informing your approaches to these concerns.

Environmental science [S216]
This wide-ranging course draws together biology, chemistry, Earth sciences and physics. This will help you to develop a holistic approach encompassing the processes, links, interactions and feedback mechanisms that operate within different environments. A special feature of the course are two multimedia, interactive field trips, in which you can explore an area visually, observe habitats, gather data and analyse your observations. By the end of the course you will be able to "lead" a group of students through a new virtual environment; make critical analyses of landforms, soils and water flows, identify habitats of flora and fauna, and comment on anthropogenic influences over their likely consequences.

Science in context [S250]
This course covers a range of interesting, contemporary issues with a scientific dimension; climate change; BSE/vCJD; near-Earth objects; medicinal plants; water and well-being; genetic manipulation, and nanotechnology. As well as dealing with the underlying science and its "real world" relevance, each of these topics is analysed in terms of four themes: communication; risk; ethical issues; and decision making. The course will equip you to examine critically similar issues that might arise in future.

Third-level courses

If you've had a lot of experience at studying these subjects, you might find an advanced, third-level course, appropriate:

The environmental web [U316]
This interdisciplinary course examines contemporary issues such a biodiversity and climate change in order to develop your environmental literacy and enable you to take part in informed debate and action. It explores environmental materials on the web used to publish data; implement policy; debate issues; and promulgate views. The course teaches you how to navigate these materials and how to analyse and evaluate information.

Content last updated: 12/12/2005