MITx 12.340x Global warming Science

School: MITx
Course Code: 12.340x
Classes Start: 19 Feb 2014
Course Length: 12 weeks
Estimated effort: 8 hours/week

About this Course

12.340x introduces the basic science underpinning our knowledge of the climate system, how climate has changed in the past, and how it may change in the future. The course focuses on the fundamental energy balance in the climate system, between incoming solar radiation and outgoing infrared radiation, and how this balance is affected by greenhouse gases. We will also discuss physical processes that shape the climate, such as atmospheric and oceanic convection and large-scale circulation, solar variability, orbital mechanics, and aerosols, as well as the evidence for past and present climate change. We will discuss climate models of varying degrees of complexity, and you will be able to run a model of a single column of the Earth's atmosphere, which includes many of the important elements of simulating climate change. Together, this range of topics forms the scientific basis for our understanding of anthropogenic (human-influenced) climate change.

We will not cover issues regarding policy responses to climate change. Rather, Global Warming Science is designed to be a strictly scientific introduction to this important topic.

12.340x is geared toward students with some mathematical and scientific background, but does not require any prior knowledge of climate or atmospheric science. See the prerequisites section for more details.

Thanks for posting this - I think I may have to brush up on some of my maths and physics though I have covered everything required in the past.

There are also a few more free courses hosted on Coursera starting soon:

(University of California)
https://www.coursera.org/course/4dimensions

(The world bank)
https://www.coursera.org/course/warmerworld

(University of Chicago)
https://www.coursera.org/course/globalwarming

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Thanks for posting this, I want to investigate it further.

MITx 12.340x Global warming Science

School: MITx
Course Code: 12.340x
Classes Start: 19 Feb 2014
Course Length: 12 weeks
Estimated effort: 8 hours/week

Is anyone signed up for this MIT course?

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I wanted to take a MIT/Sloan course on Artificial intellgence but it costs 2600 dollars. A fairly equivalent course from Berkeley costs 357 dollars. All FutureLearn courses from Open University cost about 70 euros if you want to take the tests and receive a diploma, otherwise they are free.
Tullio

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