Courses / Module

This module provides an overview of palaeoclimate research, the study of how the Earth’s climate system can change over hundreds, thousands, and millions of years. Research into how and why climate has changed in the past allows us to have a greater understanding of the functioning of the climate system and how it responds to both abrupt and gradual change. This is vital in both modelling projected climate change and in understanding societal-ecological-climate interactions and feedbacks. This module will introduce students to the Earth’s climate history, explore palaeoclimate methods, and provide practical field and/or laboratory experience, allowing students to critically assess the strengths, limitations, and challenges of collecting, analysing and interpreting proxy datasets. From this, students will gain insights into the complexities of natural and human drivers of climate change over different times and timescales, placing anthropogenic changes in context.