Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Convenor
Stuart Browning
Contact via email
E7A410
email for appointment
Lecturer
Lesley Hughes
Contact via email
Building E8B 276
email for appointment
Lecturer
Neil Saintilan
Contact via email
E7A level 4
email for appointment
Lecturer
Ram Ranjan
Contact via email
E7A level 4
email for appointment
Lecturer
Paul Beggs
Contact via email
E7A level 4
email for appointment
Lecturer
Katrina MacSween
Contact via email
E7A level 4
Email for appointment
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
18cp at 100 level or above
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
Global climate change is one of the most important issues that humanity will have to grapple with in the twenty-first century. This unit investigates our climate system's complex processes, together with the impacts that climate change will have, and what we must do to adapt to and mitigate those impacts. Natural climate variability, abrupt climate change and anthropogenic climate change are key areas of study, together with their impacts on past and modern civilization. The unit is structured around three themes:
- detection and attribution of climate change;
- biophysical and socio-economic impacts of climate change;
- adaptation, mitigation and decision making.
This unit is pitched to a diverse audience; social, economic, engineering and political perspectives are all presented by a panel of internationally renowned experts drawn from the University's Concentration of Research Excellence (CORE) in Climate Futures. There are no presumed skills for enrolment in this multidisciplinary unit.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
All assignments are to be submitted via Turnitin, the university online submission and marking system - found as a link in iLearn. Turnitin includes Grademark, a paperless grading system where your assignments are marked by staff online. Submissions are also checked for plagiarism by Turnitin. Turnitin automatically compares your work to the work of your classmates, previous students and material available on the internet. Hard copys of assignments are no longer accepted and will not be marked.
For more information on Turnitin and Grademark:
http://mq.edu.au/iLearn/student_info/assignments.htm
DEADLINES, EXTENSIONS AND PENALTIES
Deadlines set for assignment submissions will not be altered except in exceptional circumstances. In all cases, extensions must be applied for before the due date and must be supported with appropriate documentation (medical certificate, counsellor's certificate, statutory declaration). Where an unavoidable disruption warrants an extension, you may also wish to consider applying for Disruption to Studies. Requests for disruption to studies are submitted via ask.mq.edu.au. Instructions on how to submit your disruption to studies request can be found here: http://ask.mq.edu.au/kb.php?record=ce7c4e38-4f82-c4d7-95b1-4e2ee8fd075f
Extensions will not be granted in cases of poor time management. Only the Unit Convenor can authorise extensions. Late submissions will not be accepted once marked assignments have been returned unless otherwise approved by the Unit Convenor.
Late assignments will incur a late penalty of 10% of the total mark per day. Weekends will be counted as 2 days. Penalties will also be incurred for plagiarism, that is, the use of another persons’ work and presentation as your own (see University Policies and http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html).
GRADING
Each assignment will be marked, commented upon and returned to you via Turnitin and Grademark. Grading is conducted in line with the universities grading policy (http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html)
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
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Practical Reports x 3 | 30% | No | 1 week after practical class |
Research report | 20% | No | 20th October Week 10 |
Final exam | 50% | No | November 2017 |
Due: 1 week after practical class
Weighting: 30%
Reading and review exercises assigned in practical class. Each practical report will be with 10% of your final grade. Reports must be submitted via Turnitin within 1 week of the practical class in which it was assigned. More details will be provided during practical classes.
Due: 20th October Week 10
Weighting: 20%
Students will write a 1200 word research report exploring the scientific justification and feasibility of efforts to limit global mean temperature increase to less than 1.5°C. More details on this assignment will be provided in week 7.
Due: November 2017
Weighting: 50%
2 hour long final examination during the Semester 2 examination period. Material drawn from all lectures, practicals and assignments. Details of the exam conditions will be discussed during the last lecture.
There are two lectures each week, and you also need to enrol in a specific practical class.
Timetable information can be found at: https://timetables.mq.edu.au
Lectures
There are 2 x 1 hour lectures each week:
Wednesday, 4:00 - 5:00, W5A T2
Friday, 3:00 - 4:00, E7B T5
Practicals
There is 1 x 1 hour practical each week. The options are:
Wednesday, 9:00 - 10:00, E5A270
Wednesday 12:00 - 1:00, E5A260
Wednesday 1:00 - 2:00, E5A270
Wednesday 5:00 - 6:00, E5A260
Friday 11:00 - 12:00, E5A260
Friday 12:00 - 1:00, E5A270
Friday 1:00 - 2:00, E5A260
The primary resources for this unit will be the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) (available from https://www.ipcc.ch/index.htm) and published research papers relevant to each lecture topic. The following textbooks (available from Macquarie University Library) also provide a good overview of the climate change problem:
1. Bloom, A.J. 2010. Global Climate Change. Convergence of Disciplines. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA, USA.
2. Houghton, J. 2010. Global Warming: The Complete Briefing. Fourth Edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge , U.K., 438 pages.
3. Hannah, L. 2010. Climate Change Biology. Academic Press. 416 pages.
Week | Date | Lecture title | Practical |
1 | 2-Aug | L1 Climate Change: what’s the big deal and why should we care? (LH) | No Practical |
4-Aug | L2 The historical context: what can we learn? (LH) | ||
2 | 9-Aug | L3 Introduction to the climate system and variability (SB) |
Human perception and change denial (SB) (Practical report 1 set) |
11-Aug | L4 Introduction to the drivers of climate change (SB) | ||
3 | 16-Aug | L5 Climate change projections (KM) |
How to lie with statistics (KM) (Practical report 1 due) |
18-Aug | L6 Using science to clarify climate misconceptions (KM) | ||
4 | 23-Aug | L7 Oceans and coastal environments (NS) |
Abrupt change (NS) (Practical report 2 set) |
25-Aug | L8 Cryosphere and alpine environments (IG) | ||
5 | 30-Aug | L9 Natural ecosystems 1: terrestrial and freshwater systems (LH) |
Ecosystem change practical (NS) (Practical report 2 due) |
1-Sep | L10 Natural ecosystems 2: marine systems (LH) | ||
6 | 6-Sep | L11 Climate change and human civilisations (SB) |
Climate change historical context (KM) (Practical report 3 set) |
8-Sep | L12 Is climate change fair?: the question of social justice (LH) | ||
7 | 13-Sep | L13 Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability |
West Australia municipal water, value of water, drought resilience (RR) (Practical report 3 due, research report set) |
15-Sep | L14 Water security (RR) | ||
8 | 4-Oct | L15 Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century (PB) | Pollen and people (PB) |
6-Oct | L16 Tackling climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century (PB) | ||
9 | 11-Oct | L17 Food security (SB) | Great Barrier Reef: Marine heat waves (SB) |
13-Oct | L18 Tourism and heritage (SB) | ||
10 | 18-Oct | L19 Indigenous issues, sovereignty and conflict (SB) |
Geoengineering practical (SB) (Research report due) |
20-Oct | L20 Extreme solutions: geoengineering (IG) | ||
11 | 25-Oct | L21 The international context: implications for Australia (LH) | Australia's history on climate policy |
27-Oct | L22 Preventing vs coping with climate change: mitigation and adaptation synergies and tradeoffs (LH) | ||
12 | 1-Nov | L23 Economics of Mitigation and Adaptation (RR) | Analyzing Carbon Tax Impacts through graphs / Energy Efficiency policies and Rebound Effect |
3-Nov | L24 Economics of Mitigation and Adaptation (RR) | ||
13 | 8-Nov | L25 Plausible Solutions (NS) | No practical |
10-Nov | L26 Unit summary (SB) |
PB – A/Prof. Paul Beggs; SB – Dr. Stuart Browning; KM-Katrina MacSween; IG – A/Prof. Ian Goodwin; LH – Prof. Lesley Hughes; RR – Dr. Ram Ranjan; NS – Prof. Neil Saintilan. |
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy_2016.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/complaint_management/procedure.html
Disruption to Studies Policy (in effect until Dec 4th, 2017): http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html
Special Consideration Policy (in effect from Dec 4th, 2017): https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/special-consideration
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.
This graduate capability is supported by:
As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.
This graduate capability is supported by: