Earth's Changing Climate

By: Richard Wolfson, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Richard Wolfson

Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

In 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change-representing a global consensus of hundreds of scientists-concluded that "warming of the climate system is unequivocal," citing observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level.

And they noted that human activity is "very likely" the cause. Whatever your views on climate change, it's important to understand how the current scientific consensus on global warming evolved out of basic physical principles and a broad range of observations.

This lucid series of twelve lectures is designed to do exactly that-reviewing the most up-to-date research and explaining the concepts, tools, data, and analysis that have led an overwhelming number of climate scientists to conclude that Earth is indeed warming and that we humans are in great part responsible.

In clear and accessible lectures designed for nonscientists, you'll learn about the "fingerprints" of global climate change-ranging from borehole temperatures to melting glaciers to the altered behavior of plant and animal species and other indicators-that convince scientists that our Earth has been warming at an unprecedented rate in recent decades. The lectures address only scientific issues and make no policy recommendations. Instead, they have been designed to serve as your personal scientific briefing to equip you to engage knowledgeably in one of the most important environmental issues of our time.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2007 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2007 The Great Courses

Weather is day to day, climate is long term.

I finally have more knowledge to fight back with climate change deniers thanks to Prof. Richard Wolfson.

These 12 half hour courses are fairly easy to understand, (some of it I know I will forget) and show the various reasons scientists have concluded that man since the industrial revolution has been upsetting the balance of the ozone layer which helps maintain our climate.


The 12 Lectures are:

1 Is Earth Warming?

2Butterflies, Glaciers, and Hurricanes

3Ice Ages and Beyond

4In the Greenhouse

5A Tale of Three Planets

6Global Recycling

7The Human Factor

8Computing the Future

9Impacts of Climate Change

10Energy and Climate

11Energy—Resources and Alternatives

12Sustainable Futures?

What I liked about the classes and this professor (from Middlebury College) is that he stayed away from the politics of the issues and relied on the facts. He also said he believed that mankind could survive climate change because it was happening slowly enough that we would adapt. However, if we stopped relying on fossil fuels for our main source of energy we could stabilize the climate around 2100. At this point, that is the best we can do. The earth will not be the same as now but we should be able to survive in this warmer world.

I recommend this course for anyone interested in the science of climate change and wanting to learn. The audible course does not have his charts or maps but with a little google searching you can find the majority at NASA or the EPA.

Excellent in all Respects

Great education about climate change. Super instructor. Highly recommend for better understanding of the science.

Dr. Wolfson does very good work.

This is the second audio book I've listened to of Dr. Wolfsons. He is a very engaging, fast paced author/narrator which keeps your attention in a tight grip throughout the course. I just wish there were more than two books of his!

very informative

well presented. Sticks to the science and nothing more.
Good introduction to the climate change problem.

An essential lecture for understanding climate

This is a really important course in Earth’s climate system and how human activity is contributing to warming. Highly recommend this to anyone interested in the hard science that underpins our understanding of climate change.

Executive summary of climate change science

These lectures concisely lay out the scientific ideas and evidence that the climate is warming and humans are the cause. It's not "both sides," it's the science. Wolfson talks fast and packs a lot of information into each lecture, so I listened to the entire series a second time to pick up the nuances. The accompanying graphs are also helpful. A must listen!

Great info if dated

I enjoyed the lesson, the only real downside is that information is about 15 years out of date and I would be curious to know the current information.

Full of scientific details and information

This audiobook presents all the evidence on how it is that we know that the earth is warming at an alarming rate and how we can track these changes to the way we produce energy. We mainly produce energy by burning fossil fuels and its greenhouse byproducts are linked and correlated to climate change.

Incredibly informative and eye opening.

The lectures are excellent. I was amazed at so much science I didn’t even know existed. Very informative on our changing climate.

Climate Science for non-experts

This series describes how we know about human-caused climate change and the problems resulting from it. It does so without either dumbing-down or going over its intended audience. Excellent.