Graduate students in the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change presented six hour-long talks on climate science and policy during the 2017 MIT Independent Activities Period (January 30-February 2, 2017). The series provides a fast-paced, accessible introduction to the Earth’s climate system and the links between scientific and societal aspects of climate change. These sessions contextualize current global and local climate policy and provide an introduction to current research in climate change.
Presentation slides can be viewed and downloaded at the Joint Program website.
Read a news story about the series.
Climate 101: Fundamentals of Climate Science
This lecture will begin with the history of climate science and will provide a broad overview of the physics of the climate system. The goal is to allow participants to develop a broad understanding of Earth 's climate system and understand the basic tools of climate science.
Justin Bandoro - Master's student, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science.
Introduction to Economics and Policy of Climate Change: How Will You Design a Climate Policy?
If you are a designer for climate policy, what do you think is important and how will you design a good policy? This session will introduce basic concepts in environmental economics and environmental policy. We will examine the policy options and guide the audience to think about what is important in the process.
Minghao Qiu - Master's student, Institute for Data, Systems and Society (IDSS) .
Climate Science 102: The Global Climate System and Climate Modeling
This lecture will build on 101 and dive into an overview of how the climate system responds to both natural and human-caused forcings, and how scientists can detect and attribute observed changes in the climate system to human activity.
Justin Bandoro - Master's student, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science.
International Climate Governance and the Role of the United States: Part One
This video explores the history and institutional basis of international governance.
Featuring Arun Singh - Master's student, Technology and Policy Program (TPP)
International Climate Governance and the Role of the United States: Part Two
What has the role of the United States been in shaping global climate policy? What are the achievements and failures of US climate policy? And most importantly, what can we expect post 2016 elections?
Michael Davidson - Doctoral student, Institute for Data, Systems and Society (IDSS)
Can carbon pricing solve climate change: Lessons from climate policy efforts around the world
Why politicians and economists are diametrically opposed on the idea of carbon price, and why Secretary Hillary Clinton's platform didn't feature a carbon price. The talk will draw on real world experience with carbon pricing to derive lessons about its potential to mitigate climate change.
Emil Dimantchev - Master's student, Technology and Policy Program (TPP).
Embracing Uncertainty: How our society deals with not knowing and what we can do to prepare for climate change
We will look at the substantial role which uncertainty plays in our economy, politics and science. We will close out with some suggestions on how to adequately adapt to climate change and how to communicate uncertainty issues to the public, and then open for a discussion with the audience.
Christoph Tries, Master's student, Technology and Policy Program (TPP)
