Teaching Responsibility
LJMU Schools involved in Delivery:
Biological and Environmental Sciences
Learning Methods
Lecture
Practical
Workshop
Module Offerings
4400NATSCI-SEP-CTY
Aims
This course aims to provide an introduction to the climate system, and the ways in which humans have interacted with, and adapted/evolved to their climates. It will cover a wide variety of timescales of human-climate interaction and evolution. It explores long and shorter -term patterns of human evolution and climate change, examining the impact of climate instability and aridity upon resources and how well hominins adapted to changing environments of the past seven million years.
Learning Outcomes
1.
Use simple sedimentary and palaeontological indicators of climate change
2.
Understand the patterns and processes of long-term climate change and evolution, and particularly of human evolution
Module Content
Outline Syllabus:This course firstly sets out the duration of the geological timescale associated with human-climate interactions. It describes evidence of past environments (geomorphological, sedimentological, biological) and outlines the methods used to sample, date and reconstruct them. It define patterns, process and impacts of very long-term climate change (solar-driven, long-term orbital, geological-driven, astronomical impacts), long-term climate change (Milankovitch mechanisms, glacially-mediated and associated feedback processes, and volcanic processes), and shorter term climate change.
The course then explores how climate change shaped the evolution of new hominin adaptations, the origin and extinction of hominin species, and the emergence of our species, Homo sapiens. It also examines the role of climate change in the origins of farming and evaluates the impact of this major economic transition in human history upon the environment. This leads to discussion of the "Anthropocene" and to what degree humans are responsible for current climate change.
Module Overview:
This module introduces you to the climate system and the ways in which humans have interacted with, and adapted/evolved to, their climates. It will cover a wide variety of timescales of human-climate interaction and evolution. It explores long and shorter term patterns of human evolution and climate change, examining the impact of climate instability and aridity upon resources.
This module introduces you to the climate system and the ways in which humans have interacted with, and adapted/evolved to, their climates. It will cover a wide variety of timescales of human-climate interaction and evolution. It explores long and shorter term patterns of human evolution and climate change, examining the impact of climate instability and aridity upon resources.
Additional Information:Course on Climate and Human Evolution