What do we mean by climate breakdown?
What you'll learn
- Students will gain a basic understanding of climate breakdown, its causes and consequences
Requirements
- No pre-course requirements
Description
This is a course that introduces you to climate breakdown.
Climate breakdown is one of the defining issues of our time and if we don’t take action to avoid the consequences, the outcome for our ability to survive on the planet is in question. But before we can do anything to avoid climate breakdown or adapt to the outcomes, we need to understand what it is and what it means for us, for our families, for our workplaces and for future generations. Through our work in environmental education, we’ve realised that most people know very little about this subject and the perilous nature of the situation we’re in.
We decided to use our knowledge to help others and developed this course to provide:
An explanation of climate breakdown
An outline of the consequences of climate breakdown for now and for future generations
A basic look at the science behind the causes of climate breakdown, including the greenhouse effect and tipping points
A short quiz to consolidate your learning.
By the end of the course, you should be able to talk confidently about the causes and consequences of climate breakdown with your children or grandchildren, with your neighbours and friends and with your colleagues at work.
Course originally uploaded in 2019.
Updated in 2021.
February 2025, addition of 5 new lectures and remastering of existing content.
Who this course is for:
- Anyone who is confused by all the activity around climate breakdown in the media and wants a better understanding
- Anyone who feels left behind by their children, grandchildren, friends or colleagues when talking about climate breakdown
- Anyone who thinks climate breakdown is just an abstract concept that will not affect them
Instructor
- 4.5 Instructor Rating
- 6,195 Reviews
- 10,987 Students
- 7 Courses
Richard is an environmental educator who wants to make sure everyone has access to the information they need to help them understand the scale of the environmental challenges we face.
Richard has developed environmental management courses for business and has delivered these and other courses to many delegates over the last 7 years. In addition, he has just come to the end of a 20 year career as an Associate Lecturer with The Open University in the UK. He is an examiner for environmental certificate and diploma courses with a UK-based, international examination board delivering vocational qualifications in subjects including environmental practice and management.