Climate Science BSc (Hons)

Program Overview

The Climate Science program at the University of Liverpool equips students with a thorough grasp of the science underpinning climate change. It combines coursework in ocean sciences, ecology, and physical and human geography, along with practical training in problem-solving, numerical coding, and research.

Program Outline

It’s a great choice for those looking to take an active role in developing solutions to current and emerging global environmental challenges.

Objectives:

• To provide students with core knowledge on the impact of climate change through modules in ocean sciences, ecology, and physical and human geography.
• To develop problem solving, numerical and practical skills through training in numerical coding, laboratory classes and research-focused projects.
You'll study in depth the impact of climate change through modules in ocean sciences, ecology, and physical and human geography. There is a focus on developing problem solving, numerical and practical skills through training in numerical coding, laboratory classes and research-focused projects. Alongside learning about the fundamentals of climate science, you’ll also be introduced to adaptation and mitigation options, and sustainability. The University of Liverpool has strong links with scientists from the National Oceanography Centre in Liverpool, who provide guest lectures and supervision of projects.

Outline:

Year One:

Compulsory Modules:

• Study Skills (Ocean and Climate Sciences) (ENVS103): This module introduces students to key concepts and skills in ocean and climate sciences, including software tools for data analysis and illustration, and fieldwork experience.
Students will also develop generic skills in communication through essay writing, oral and poster presentations. The module also introduces students to academic integrity, accessing scientific literature, and using bibliographic software. Teaching is carried out both to the whole year group and also during tutorial group meetings. The module is assessed via a series of coursework assignments. It draws on basic scientific principles to understand how climate has evolved over the history of the planet and how the climate system is operating now. Attention is particularly paid to the structure and circulation of the atmosphere and ocean, and how they both interact. The course emphasizes acquiring mechanistic insight and drawing upon order of magnitude calculations. By the end of the module, students will understand how the oceans and atmosphere combine to shape Earth’s climate. Students gain quantitative skills by completing a series of coursework exercises and a final exam. Students address the Net Zero carbon goal via group work involving digital storytelling.
• Living with Environmental Change (ENVS119): This module examines global challenges facing humans on the planet earth related to climate and environmental change.
It introduces students to core concepts of sustainability and human impacts upon the environment, as well as exploring proposed solutions and mitigation strategies. The module provides a core knowledge base for social and natural scientists who wish to understand environmental change. Each week, students are introduced to a new ecosystem and learn about its habitat, organisms, key processes, and human threats. During these workshops, students learn to critique scientific research in small group discussions guided by academics. Knowledge and understanding are assessed via open-book online tests and a group project where students create an infographic outlining the threats a particular ecosystem faces.
• Theory and Laboratory Experiments in Earth Surfaces Processes (ENVS165): This module uses a lecture and laboratory-based problem-solving approach to explore fundamental physical and chemical processes underlying physical geography.
It provides a foundation for environmental and physical geography modules in the second and third year. The module comprises multiple whole-day practical sessions, giving students first-hand experience of topics important in understanding our changing environment. Students get formal feedback in each assessed week (one poster per group). Informal feedback is also obtained via discussions during the sessions.
• Ecology and Conservation (ENVS157): This module explores the interactions between organisms and the environment, examining how species organize into communities and how energy and resources flow through ecosystems.
It investigates how ecosystems respond to change, including gradual environmental shifts, sudden disturbance events, and the effects of human activities. The module also covers the application of ecological principles to conservation, assessing the current state of the biosphere, evaluating major threats, and exploring the future of ecosystems, including restoration and recreation of natural landscapes. It covers key features of the earth, atmosphere, and ocean, their interactions, and the drivers and consequences of perturbing the Earth System. Past, contemporary, and projections of climate change are discussed, as well as the tools used by environmental scientists to detect climate change and attribute it to human activities. The module also discusses measures to mitigate against climate change, drawing on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) efforts.

Optional Modules:

• Essential Mathematical Skills (ENVS117): This module provides students without a background in mathematics a foundation for their degree program.
It covers pure maths, maths mechanics, and statistics, developing the required knowledge and skills to complete degree programs in Ocean Sciences, Earth Sciences, Geography, Environmental Science, and Marine Biology. The module is taught as weekly lectures following a ten-chapter book developed for the module by world-leading experts. Lectures are supplemented with workshops where concepts can be discussed and skills improved. The module is assessed through online pop-quizzes and a formal written exam. All topics begin "from the ground up" by revising ideas from A-level before building on these concepts. The basic principles of differentiation and integration are practiced, extending to functions of more than one variable. Basic matrix manipulation is covered, as well as vector algebra and an understanding of eigenvectors and eigenvalues.

Year Two:

Compulsory Modules:

• Key Skills for Environmental Data Analysis (ENVS202): This module provides generic training in manipulating environmental data sets using the industry-standard Matlab software.
Skills are provided in reading in data, manipulating and plotting the data, and interpreting the data signals. The assumption is that students have little or no experience in programming. The module begins with an introduction to Matlab and then develops a series of programming skills, each week using data collected in the staffs’ own research to provide real-world examples of the use of Matlab. The aim is to provide students with sufficient grasp of programming in Matlab to enable its use in subsequent project work, as well as providing the foundations in one of the key tools used in science and industry.
• Research and Career Skills (ENVS204): This module aims to develop research and careers skills required by marine biologists, ocean scientists, and environmental scientists as they prepare for their final year of study.
These aims are achieved through a blended learning approach including interactive tutorials, workshops, and the School of Environmental Sciences careers week. Students will focus on developing skills in critiquing and reading the scientific literature, assessed through a literature review essay. Students will also be introduced to the process of scientific research, learning how to analyze and synthesize real scientific data, create professional display items, and write a research report in standard scientific format. Students will develop knowledge of careers in their field and enhance their employability taking part in an assessment center exercise and job video interview.
• Changing Environments (ENVS214): This module provides a critical insight into the global changes currently impacting the Earth over decades to millennial timescales.
It introduces a series of contemporary environmental concerns and teaches how we can reconstruct climatic and environmental conditions, the landscapes, and vegetation of the past. It explores a wide variety of archives (lakes, freshwater and coastal wetlands, oceans) and develops an understanding of the key techniques used to trace environmental conditions (physical properties, biogeochemistry, biological indicators). It assesses how the drivers behind these changes will affect future landscapes and ecosystems.
• Environmental Sustainability (ENVS218): This module explores the notion of environmental sustainability, particularly within the context of urban planning.
It examines how to develop places where we live in a way that makes them cleaner, more energy efficient, and better adapted to climate change, providing more biodiversity and a better quality of life.
• Climatology (ENVS231): This module covers energy balance and transfer processes at the surface, clouds, rain formation, weather forecasting, monsoons, tropical cyclones, weather in the mid latitudes, and regional climates.
The module has a balance between theory, processes, impacts, and hands-on experimentation and data analysis. It covers localized anthropogenic stressors such as excess nutrients, plastic debris, trace metals, marine heatwaves, and emerging contaminants affecting coastal and open ocean waters. Students gain an understanding of the causes and processes that drive marine pollution issues, as well as techniques used to monitor, remediate, and regulate those issues. Assessment is done through group work, coursework, and a final in-person exam.
• Oceanography, Plankton and Climate (ENVS245): This module explores how the physics, biology, and chemistry of the ocean come together to control the lives of plankton.
It examines how turbulence and stratification in the ocean control the growth of different sizes of plants and animals by determining how they can acquire light, nutrients, and food. It also considers how plankton play a key role in shaping Earth’s climate and how they respond to changes in Earth’s climate. Teaching is structured around a series of short videos on key topics and concepts, with class work then looking at relevant case studies, discussing the implications of our changing climate on plankton, and gaining practice in quantifying plankton responses to changes in their ocean environment. Assessment is by one coursework assignment halfway through the semester and an online open-book exam. It explores the basic processes that have helped shape the geomorphology of Britain and investigates the magnitude and frequency of events, as well as the time and space scales over which the processes operate. The module is divided into four components: glacial systems, glacial geomorphology and environmental change, aeolian processes, and coastal geomorphology. Weekly face-to-face sessions are supported by access to online videos, power point presentations, lecture notes, reading lists, and selected web sites. Weekly timetabled sessions will be a combination of lectures, discussions around reading, and Q&A. Two days of fieldwork form the basis of the summative assessment addressing set problems and questions. A formative GIS exercise is also delivered via timetabled support sessions.

Year Three:

Compulsory Modules:

• Politics of the Environment (ENVS325): This module explores the extent to which environmental concerns are taken into account in various decision-making processes involving the public (government), private, and third sectors at a variety of different scales (global, European, national, and local).
• Glaciology Past, Present and Future (ENVS330): This module provides students with fully up-to-date knowledge of how glaciers and ice sheets have behaved in the past, are currently behaving in the present, and will behave in the future.
This is achieved through paired lectures and seminars on different glacial themes, where students have the opportunity to examine and critique a range of glaciological research techniques that are applied to glacial environments around the world, ranging from valley glaciers to ice sheets. It is intended that this will provide students with a working knowledge of the controls on (and the social and climatic impacts of) past, present, and potential future glacier behavior.
• Global Carbon Cycle (ENVS335): This module introduces students to the fundamental theory behind the global carbon cycle.
Students will see how carbon is partitioned between the atmosphere, land, and ocean in the contemporary and past Earth system, understand how the ocean stores 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere, and consider the impact of increasing carbon dioxide on the organisms living on land and in the ocean. Teaching is through lectures, workshops focusing on key components of the carbon cycle, and guided reading. Assessment is by two pieces of coursework.
• Contemporary Issues in Ocean and Climate Sciences (ENVS366): This research-led module aims to promote interest, awareness, and understanding of current important research topics within Ocean and Climate Sciences.
It also aims to develop generic skills such as team working and communication skills. The module considers recent reports such as the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and the associated 2019 SROCC (Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate), with students working with one of the lead IPCC authors based in Liverpool. Students will also attend the bi-weekly Ocean and Climate Sciences research seminars that are given by invited national and international experts on a range of subjects related to the marine and climate system. Assessment is by individual oral presentations by students presenting what they have learnt from recent research papers of particular interest to them, and a group presentation on a research topic of current importance (e.g., as highlighted in the latest SROCC report). A final in-person exam is focused around a recent high-impact scientific paper provided to the students.
• Carbon, Nutrients and Climate Change Mitigation (ENVS381): This module involves both individual and group work, workshops, group presentations/debates, and engagement with the most current scientific literature and social media and science communication.
This module is open to all students, but those taking this module must be willing to engage in quantitative analyses of carbon and nutrient cycling and its importance to climate mitigation strategies.
• Independent Research Project (ENVS306): This module consists of a two-semester dissertation research project, carried out individually by a student with supervision by a member of academic staff.
Projects can be field-, laboratory- or desk-based studies on a predefined project and the student will learn about project design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation of results.

Optional Modules:

• Ocean Dynamics (ENVS332): This module addresses how the ocean and atmosphere circulate.
Students will improve their understanding of how the ocean and atmosphere behave, including comparing the importance of different physical processes in the climate system. There is significant mathematical content, requiring familiarity with calculus and algebra. The module is assessed through two online tests and an essay.
• Coastal Environments: Spatial and Temporal Change (ENVS376): This module considers the evolution and response of coastal environments to marine and riverine processes and their variations in relation to past, present, and future climate change.
Attention is given to physical processes and inter-relationships acting along coastlines and coastal changes in response to sea level rise, variations in storms activity, wave climate, and sediment supply. Consideration is also given to coastal management and climate change adaptation and mitigation measures. Topics will be investigated through a combination of lectures, field trips, and development of a project aimed at identifying optimum coastal protection schemes for real case studies.
• Environmental Communication: Politics, Science, Activism, and the Media (COMM304): This module examines the most salient fault lines of mediated environmental discourse.
It explores who the stakeholders are that engage in environmental debates and what their arguments are. It also investigates the challenges for journalists and other content providers in communicating complex environmental issues to their respective audiences and the effects of different forms of communication and narratives. Students will develop the knowledge and analytical skills to be able to tackle these issues via their own theory-driven and empirical work.

Assessment:

Assessment matches the learning objectives for each module and may take the form of written exams, coursework submissions in the form of essays, scientific papers, briefing notes, or lab notebooks, oral and poster presentations, and contributions to group projects. Coursework is designed around the types of problems encountered, and the skills needed, in commercial, research, and public sector jobs.

Teaching:

Teaching takes place through lectures, practical sessions, workshops, seminars, tutorials, and computer-based learning, with an emphasis on learning through doing. You will typically receive at least 15 hours of formal teaching each week. A typical module might involve two or three one-hour lectures each week, and often a three-hour laboratory or computer-based practical as well. Tutorials typically involve groups of 4-7 students meeting with a member of staff at least every two weeks in years one and two. In years three and four, students meet with their project supervisor on a weekly or more frequent basis.

Careers:

Climate Science graduates have sound knowledge of the fundamental science behind climate change, skills to detect and monitor change in a range of environments, and insight into sustainability and mitigation strategies. The employability options are extensive. Many graduates move on to have careers in areas such as:

• Environmental consultancy and management
• Climate research
• Accountancy and insurance brokers
• Education
• Renewable energy industries

Other:

• A number of the School’s degree programmes involve laboratory and field work.
Fieldwork is carried out in various locations, ranging from inner city to coastal and mountainous environments.
• We consider applications from prospective disabled students on the same basis as all other students, and reasonable adjustments will be considered to address barriers to access.

Tuition fees UK fees (applies to Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland) Full-time place, per year £9,250 Year in industry fee £1,850 Year abroad fee £1,385 International fees Full-time place, per year £26,400 Year abroad fee £13,200 Fees shown are for the academic year 2024/25. Please note that the Year Abroad fee also applies to the Year in China. Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching and assessment, operating facilities such as libraries, IT equipment, and access to academic and personal support.