KE6037 - Earth Futures

1. A series of lectures (each associated with taught practical sessions), introducing students to the primary topics relating to the Earth system, Net Zero and geoengineering.
2. Guided practicals, either in a laboratory setting or in IT labs. These will relate to the topic introduced in the associated lecture and allow the students to implement some of the knowledge learned in these lectures to a hypothesis-driven exercise. These practicals may include mathematical modelling exercises, laboratory-based experiments, and the use of other computer-based tools. One practical will relate to the field trip and enable the collection of associated data.
3. A field trip , where students will be expected to collect data and samples for further analysis in a practical.

You will be supported academically on this module in the following ways:
• Formal lectures (Overview of the topics covered in this module).
• Guided IT practicals and laboratory practicals to develop high-level computer- and laboratory-based skills.
• Formative feedback on projects set in each practical.

Module content and guidance will be made available by your module tutor in lectures as well as via the virtual learning platform, eLP. During IT and laboratory sessions, you will interact closely with teaching staff who will provide formative support (demonstrations are often provided at the start of the class) and feedback on activities leading up to the assessment tasks. You will also benefit from interaction and problem solving with your fellow students in working through guided exercises.

Teaching staff operate an ‘open door’ policy for students meaning you can approach them anytime during normal office hours, or via email, to answer questions, receive feedback and support your learning on the module.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• MLO 1: Critically evaluate and understand the role of anthropogenic carbon emissions as a driver of global climate change and understand likely futures of the Earth system.
MLO 2: Understand the potential range of mechanisms which may be employed to offset the impact of anthropogenic carbon emissions.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• MLO 3: Apply a range of computational and data analysis tools to quantitatively solve environmental questions.
• MLO 4: Demonstrate effective report writing skills oral communication skills, critical thinking and an ability to synthesise a range of literature sources.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• MLO 5: Develop and demonstrate an informed concern and awareness about anthropogenic climate change and potential remediation strategies.

Summative:
The first assessment will be an individual report-based assessment (50% - 2000 words) using data collected during fieldwork and laboratory practicals (MLO1 and 4).

The second assessment (50%) will be an individual assignment (2000 words) that allows you to demonstrate skills using computational analysis to produce data for a report on one possible Earth future scenario (MLO1, 2 and 3).

Formative:
On an on-going basis throughout the module your tutors will give formative feedback on development of computational skills in guided IT workshops and laboratory practicals (MLO 2, 3 & 4).

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This module will introduce and explain the current state of research relating to the future of Earth under anthropogenic climate change. The focus of this will be upon three primary topics 1) the carbon cycle and the impact of humans upon it 2) the idea of Net Zero as a means to tackle anthropogenic climate change and 3) geoengineering as a tool to offset carbon emissions.

Through a series of coupled lectures and IT and lab-based practicals and a field trip, you will learn how the Earth system responds to carbon emissions and how the drive toward a Net Zero economy can offset the worst impacts of these emissions (assessment: 50%). In addition, through further coupled lectures and practicals, and through the use of modelling, you will learn the background of what geoengineering is along with its practicalities, ethics and possibilities as a means to define future climate change (assessment: 50%).

Tutors will provide you with directed learning and feedback, including formative feedback on practical exercises. The topics of Net Zero and Geoengineering are already, and will continue to become, key areas for employment. As we pursue the road to a cleaner, greener world, more employers will require graduates with a full understanding of the role of anthropogenic climate change in the Earth system, and how humans can act to remedy it.