137 Climate Change
Collections
Climate Education by various (CC BY-NC-SA).
This Hub is designed to be a library of educational resources about climate change and intersectional topics. They are available under a copyright license that allows for free sharing and customization – providing more equitable access to students and heavily impacted communities around the world, as well as unlocking the power of educators to add cultural relevancy and local context – ultimately allowing more people to more deeply interact and collaborate with the material and issues we face.
MIT Climate by various (CC BY-SA).
A collection of posts, podcasts, courses, interviews, and other resources relating to climate and climate change. MIT Climate is MIT’s central portal to all the work happening across MIT on climate change, and a place for worldwide discussion and learning.
Courses
Climate Change Adaptation Fundamentals by Stewart Cohen (CC BY).
This is an open online course whose materials have been published in Pressbooks. This course has been designed to help professionals working across multiple disciplines bring a climate change adaptation lens to their current and future projects. This 4-week course covers what the current climate change situation is, including the latest science and scenarios; why climate change matters to professionals and planners, in terms of risk and impact; what we can do about it, through examples and methods of adaptation; and how to bring adaptation tools, data, and processes into your work, with a practice project. This course is part of a project by the Adaptation Learning Network.
Climatic & Ecological Modelling for Adaptive Forest Applications by Tongli Wang (CC BY-NC-ND).
This is an open course whose materials have been published in Pressbooks. This online course will introduce various climatic and ecological modelling tools and guide the students to practical applications of scale-free climate models and niche-based ecological models in forest and ecological (e.g., birds, fish, and animals) resource management to increase the resilience and viability of forest ecosystems. By the end of the course, students will master skills and techniques to use climatic models to generate spatial climate data; understand niche-based ecological models; and interpret and apply model output to forest management practice. This course is part of a project by the Adaptation Learning Network.
Ecosystems for the Future by Division of Continuing Studies – University of Victoria (CC BY).
This is an open course whose materials have been published in Pressbooks. This course will bring into focus the practice of restoration of ecosystems at the local and regional level in British Columbia through a series of presentations delivered by faculty from UVic’s School of Environmental Studies, First Nations speakers and Elders, and professionals whose work intersects with ecology in diverse ways. Topics covered include how local ecosystems are changing, basic ecological restoration principles, the biodiversity of British Columbia, what drives change in ecosystems and the challenges created in different types of ecosystems, climate change models, and how ecological restoration principles can be applied across different disciplines. This course is part of a project by the Adaptation Learning Network.
Financial Impact of Climate Change by Todd Thexton (CC BY).
This is an open course whose materials have been published in Pressbooks. This course introduces participants to the financial risks and impacts associated with climate change. Participants will explore a range of risk pathways that link climate and economic systems, including physical risks related to direct exposure to climate hazards in the value chain; transition risks arising from abrupt transitions to a low-carbon economy; systemic risks transmitted throughout the economy; and extreme risks arising from the complex dynamic nature of climate-economy systems. This course is part of a project by the Adaptation Learning Network.
Food & Water Security by Dr. Joanne Taylor (CC BY).
This is an open course whose materials have been published in Pressbooks. Drawing upon food security literature and current events, this survey course will encourage learners to build a new understanding of food security, water shortages in agricultural production, and climate change challenges in agriculture. We will introduce policy tools and case studies illustrating the effects that climate change has on agriculture. Modules include food security and insecurity, water security, climate change and food security in the future, and analysis and solutions for these problems. This course is part of a project by the Adaptation Learning Network.
Green Infrastructure in Urban Centres: Policy, Design and Practice by Joanna Ashworth and Nick Mead-Fox (CC BY).
This is an open course whose materials have been published in Pressbooks. Green infrastructure and related nature-based solutions are gaining widespread support as effective components of healthy city building as well as climate adaptation strategies. The course provides an overview of how GI systems work, the ecosystem services they can provide, and how they can be employed effectively. The course has four parts that together provide a substantive overview of the current green infrastructure policy, design, and practice and the associated challenges and opportunities. This course is part of a project by the Adaptation Learning Network.
Indigenous Knowledges and Perspectives on Climate Adaptation by Resilience By Design Lab (RbD), Royal Roads University (CC BY-NC).
This is a self-study course whose materials have been published in Pressbooks. This course invites learners into deeper thinking, reflection and content pertaining to Indigenous perspectives in climate adaptation and mitigation. Ultimately, this course provides a space for you to consider how and where Indigenous leadership can not only restore better practice across social and political landscapes, but also heal relationships with our shared planet for future generations to come. Topics covered in this course include climate adaptation science and practice literacy, working together in climate adaptation, and understanding the climate adaptation challenge. This course is part of a project by the Adaptation Learning Network.
Intro to Climate Policy for Climate Adaptation Professionals by Michele Patterson (CC BY).
This is an open course whose materials have been published in Pressbooks. This course will inform participants about climate adaptation policy in Canada and B.C. It will allow them to consider how climate policy from international to local levels informs their professional functions and day to day activities on the job. Modules 1 and 2 focus on what climate change adaptation policy is, why we need it, available tools, and and important actors. Module 3 offers opportunities to learn and apply policy in specific settings, depending on your role. Module 4 is a capstone learning activity for the whole class, in which you can think about how you will use this information in the future. This course is part of a project by the Adaptation Learning Network.
Natural Asset Management Fundamentals by Roy Brooke (CC BY).
This is an open course whose materials have been published in Pressbooks. This course is designed to help government, professionals in multiple disciplines, and community organizations understand the fast-emerging field of natural asset management. Topics include what natural asset management is, why it matters, and what conditions enable or hinder it; how natural asset management is relevant in your own disciplines or community contexts; what you may be able to do differently as a result of knowing more about natural asset management; and where you can get additional information on natural asset management. This course is part of a project by the Adaptation Learning Network.
Project Management for a Changing Climate by Susan Todd (CC BY).
This is an open course whose materials have been published in Pressbooks. This course is designed to help professionals who have project management responsibilities to add a climate change lens to their projects. The four modules of this course explore perspectives that are key to developing a climate change lens for project management; teach students how to engage team members and those affected by climate change; teach how to plan for climate change throughout the project life; and provide the opportunity to practice applying a climate change lens to a real project. This course is part of a project by the Adaptation Learning Network.
Stanford’s Understand Energy Learning Hub by Stanford DOER School of Sustainability (CC BY-NC-SA)
The content of a wildly popular course taught at Stanford for over three decades. Our goal is to help you understand energy as a complex system with significant impacts on human development, the environment, the economy, equity and justice, and more. We invite you to explore our site and build your literacy around energy resources from fossil fuels like oil and coal to renewable resources like the wind, the sun, and efficiency; energy currencies like electricity and hydrogen; and energy services such as transportation and buildings.
Strategic Dialogue and Engagement for Climate Adaptation by Olive Dempsey (CC BY-NC).
This is an open course whose materials have been published in Pressbooks. In this course, you’ll learn how to lead or participate in community engagement without triggering fear and overwhelming others; practice critical self-awareness and self-reflection; and consider equity-based and decolonizing approaches. This course is designed for professionals looking to advance the intersecting work of climate action and adaptation, including planners, engineers, elected officials and community leaders. This course is part of a project by the Adaptation Learning Network.
Monographs
Arcticness edited by I Kelman (CC BY).
Climate change and globalisation are opening up the Arctic for exploitation by the world – or so we are told. But what about the views, interests and needs of the peoples who live in the region? This volume explores the opportunities and limitations in engaging with the Arctic under change, and the Arctic peoples experiencing the changes, socially and physically.
Supplementary Materials
The Sea-Level Story by Roseanne Smith, adapted by Stephanie (Charlie) Farley and Martin Tasker (CC BY-SA).
This resource explores how and why sea levels have varied over the last tens of thousands of years, and the effects this had both at the time and today.
Textbooks
Building Resilient Rural Communities by Centre for Rural Health Research and Rural Health Services Research Network of BC (CC BY-NC-SA)
This book was compiled for the use of students, teachers, academics, and engaged advocates wanting to take action in the face of climate change and ecosystem disruption. The goal of this work is to outline the realities of climate change in rural Canada, specifically in reference to health and healthcare delivery, but also, and arguably more importantly, we hope to inject a sense of optimism and a way forward into the discourse. We have highlighted the contributions of a number of rural physicians and medical students because we believe the medical profession has an important contribution to make in responding to the threats of climate change and ecosystem disruption.
Climate Justice in Your Classroom by Affiliates of the UW Program on Climate Change. Edited by Isaac Olson; Madeline Brooks; and Miriam A. Bertram (CC BY-NC-SA).
As the inequitable impacts of climate change become more evident and destructive, it is essential for climate and environmental justice, as well as methods of civic engagement, to be taught at a high-level to college-level students. This book provides real examples of how professors at the University of Washington integrated these critical issues into their teachings, both in targeted lessons and as throughlines across an entire course. These samples of how environmental and climate justice have been successfully integrated into higher-level education can serve as both a record of the UW’s progress towards centering JEDI at the heart of all students, and as a model for future instructors to use as they work to incorporate more aspects of justice and engagement into their own material.
Climate Toolkit: A Resource Manual for Science and Action by Frank D. Granshaw (CC BY-NC).
A resource manual designed to help the reader navigate the complex and perplexing issue of climate change by providing tools and strategies to explore the underlying science. It contains a collection of activities that make use of readily available on-line resources developed by research groups and public agencies including web-based climate models, climate data archives, interactive atlases, policy papers, and “solution” catalogs.
Introduction to Climate Science by Andreas Schmittner (CC BY-NC).
This book describes how Earth’s climate is changing, how it has been changing in the recent geological past and how it may change in the future. It covers the physical sciences that build the foundations of our current understanding of global climate change such as radiation, Earth’s energy balance, the greenhouse effect and the carbon cycle. Both natural and human causes for climate change are discussed. Impacts of climate change on natural and human systems are summarized. Ethical and economical aspects of human-caused climate change and solutions are presented.
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improving Air Quality by Larry E. Erickson and Gary Brase (all rights reserved – a link to the resource may be provided).
This resource provides a perspective on technology and social factors that could affect greenhouse gas emissions including the electrification of transportation, battery storage of electricity and the development of a smart grid. Social factors that are considered include government policies, economic implications and managing air quality through policy.
Telling Stories to Change the World by Judith Sebesta (CC BY-NC-SA).
Explores the history and impact of the “Cli-Fi Film,” or Climate Fiction Film, a sub-genre of narrative cinema that depicts, on some level, the effects of climate change on the Earth and its inhabitants.
Media Attributions
- BC Map by Adamwashere (CC BY-NC-SA).