Scripps Oceanography Scientists Offer Free Course

By Arjun Patel | Special Sections Editor

Scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography are offering a free massive open online course (MOOC) through Coursera on the topic of global climate change. The 10-week course, “Climate Change in Four Dimensions,” began on April 8. However, registration for the course is still open.

Course Syllabus

Week 1: Basic Science of Climate Change
Week 2: The Nature of Scientific Knowledge
Week 3: Climate Change Mitigation
Week 4: International dimensions of climate change
Week 5: The Impacts of Climate Change
Week 6: What May Be in Store For The World?
Week 7: How The Public Views Climate Change
Week 8: How Regions Are Preparing To Adapt
Week 9: What We Can Do, Part 1
Week 10: What We Can Do, Part 2

The online course is made up of a series of 19 video lectures presented by UC San Diego professors Charles Kennel, Naomi Oreskes, Richard Somerville, David Victor, and Veerabhadran Ramanathan.

Climate change has been a great concern in recent years as temperatures have increased, global sea levels have shifted, and animal populations have been forced to move. Participants will be introduced to such subjects through lectures and encouraged to actively participate in online discussions with faculty and other participants. The course will also include weekly assignments, a midterm, and a final exam.

If you’d like to find out more about this course you can find out more at the UCSD Extension website or the Coursera webpage. The course is offered for free to those who are not seeking credit. Professional certificate credit is available for a fee through a companion course offered by the UC San Diego Extension.