Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Describe why and how current climate change is happening.
2. Describe how agriculture is contributing to climate change and how it can adapt to climate change.
3. Discuss the variety of options open to Irish agriculture for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from land use.
4. Work in a team to prepare arguments for innovative ways of implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture.
Indicative Module Content:
BIOL20050: Climate Change and Agriculture - Syllabus 2019/20
1. Week: Introduction: what is modern climate change?
Lecture: 1. Introduction
2. Cause of current climate change
2. Week: Underlying paradigms for agricultural innovation
Lecture: 1. Impacts of climate change
2. Agricultural innovation paradigms
3. Week: Climate change impacts
Lecture. 1. Climate change adaptation
Tutorial 1: Scoping: misconceptions on climate change and Irish farming
4. Week: What causes current climate change?
Lecture 1. Linking radiation to temperature
2. Climate model
5. Week: Feedbacks in the climate system
Lecture. 1. Exponential growth
Tutorial 2: peer learning on misconceptions on climate change and Irish farming
6. Week: How do we address climate change through government?
Lecture. 1. Mitigation policy.
2. Climate mitigation action
7. Week: Why is there a sense of urgency to mitigate current climate change?
Lecture. 1. Options for reducing emissions in Irish livestock agriculture
Tutorial 3: Carbon navigator (Pat Murphy)
8. Week: Identifying options for climate change mitigation in Irish agriculture
Lecture 1. Carbon navigator
2: Carbon neutrality
9. Week: Market-based regulation to mitigate climate change
Lecture: 1. Greenhouse gas emissions along the food chain
Tutorial 4: peer learning- carbon navigator – scoping of pathways to carbon neutrality
10. Week: What happens to greenhouse gases when they enter the atmosphere?
Lecture: 1. The carbon cycle.
2: Afforestation in Ireland
11. Week: Learning to use resources efficiently along the food chain
Lecture: 1. Bioenergy in Ireland
Tutorial 5: peer learning on pathways to carbon neutrality. Vegetarianism debate
12. Week: Bringing it all together
Lecture: 1. Comparing pathways to carbon neutrality
2: Review of module content