Science and Politics of Climate Change

<p>You gain a basic scientific understanding of the dynamics and complexity of the climate system, including its connections to the marine and terrestrial ecosystems. </p><p>The course also provides an understanding of, and the ability to analyse, political questions and decision-making related to climate mitigation and adaptation. Based on this, the course aims to provide a deeper understanding of the most important scientific questions and how they are reflected in and addressed in the international climate policy debate. The course also includes methods components, such as how to handle scientific uncertainty and detection and attribution. Special attention is given to ethical perspectives, including global justice.</p><p>The course starts with a survey of the dynamics and complexity of the climate system. Then the course provides a special focus on evaluating different climate science debates and how they are linked to important climate policy questions. Selecting these key questions and debates is an important aspect of the course, and it is organised through moderated dialogues amongst students and between students and the lecturer.</p><p>The course consists primarily of reading and evaluating scientific articles, mixed with lectures, seminars, and debates, the structure of which is decided upon amongst the course participants along the way. The coursework should result in a scientific evaluation of and a survey of current climate science. The IPCC's scientific protocol inspires both the process and the resulting reports.</p>