Entry requirements

General entry requirements

Learning outcomes

At the completion of the course the student should

have an interdisciplinary understanding of the issues of climate change and energy from a sustainability perspective;

be able to give a description of how the climate system is affected by our society and how climate change affects society in different regions and within different sectors;

be able to give a description the global energy system of today and changes in supply and demand in the near future;

be able to give examples of different climate and energy scenarios for the future;

be able to give an account of and critically analyse and asses different proposed solutions to the issues of climate change and energy depletion;

be able to argument for and against the argumentation of researchers as well as other actors in the climate change and energy debate.

Content

The module addresses the issues of climate change and energy provision. The greenhouse effect, climatic variations in time and space, scientific methods of studying climate and different factors affecting the climate are studied. Thereafter, the historic development of different energy sources is presented and their importance for modern society is discussed. Included in this part is a general introduction to energy systems. Different societies' vulnerability to energy crisis, from a historical and contemporary perspective, is discussed and concepts such as Peak Oil introduced. The module also tries to highlight controversies of political and scientific nature: prognoses, research in risk assessment and the precautionary principle. Furthermore, the consequences of climate change and changes in energy provision on ecosystems, aquatic systems, agriculture, forestry, natural disasters, health, economics and conflicts, will be addressed. Lastly, different scenarios for the future will be presented and strategies to manage the issues of climate change and energy provision discussed.

Instruction

Lectures and seminars.

Assessment

Examination with written assignments, active participation in seminars and projects.