GEOGG131 The Anthropocene

CORE GEOGG131 - The Anthropocene
(15 credits; Term 1)

Staff:

Anson Mackay, Jonathan Holmes

Aims:

The primary aim is to investigate topical environmental themes (important to the well-being of our planet) within the context of a long-term perspective (using palaeoscience approaches). A secondary aim is to encourage students to publicly participate in the themes developed on the course by the creation and maintenance of a weblog (‘blog’) site.

Content:

Human impact on the earth is increasingly seen as having global implications, so much so that a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, has been proposed. This course will provide in-depth coverage of human impacts on many of the Earth’s ecosystems, drawing on research strengths within the department.

• Natural and anthropogenic drivers of climate change
• Global biogeochemical cycles
• Land-use change and Planetary Boundaries
• Abrupt climate change
• Aquatic environments
• Biodiversity and megafaunal extinctions
• Societal responses

Assessment:

Writing and maintaining a blog on an environmental topic for 12 weeks (approx 3000 words)

Format:

The course is based mainly upon lectures

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the course students should:

• Be able to critically evaluate the drivers of climate change during the Holocene
• Understand global biogeochemical cycles (e.g. C, N and Si) and how they have been disrupted by human activity
• Understand the impact of humans on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
• Be aware of how palaeoecological techniques can be used to further our understanding of changing biodiversity and climate change
• Be able to critically evaluate human and climate impacts on different global ecosystems