Handbook

Imagine a world of wildly escalating temperatures, apocalyptic flooding, devastating storms and catastrophic sea level rise. This might sound like a prediction for the future or the storyline of a new Hollywood blockbuster but it is something quite different: it’s our past. In a day and age when we’re bombarded with worrying forecasts for the future, it seems hard to believe that such things could come to pass. Yet almost everywhere we turn, the landscape is screaming out that the world is a capricious place. But if we don’t tune in, the message is lost. We need to decipher the past and learn from it.

Past environmental changes and their impacts provide valuable insights into how our planet works. And it’s becoming increasingly clear that nowhere is really isolated from anywhere else.  From Sydney to the Antarctic, seemingly unrelated parts of the world are connected in one way or another.  The aim of this course is to provide you with a critical understanding of past environmental change and what this means for the future. To achieve this, we will use a combination of lectures, practicals and a 3-day field trip to delve into the past when our planet experienced violent swings in climate, sea level, ice cover, fire frequency and greenhouse gas levels.

Note:A compulsory 3-day field trip will be held and personal expenses will be incurred.