Learning objectives

After completion of this course, the students are expected to:

1. Understand the science of climate change and its impacts on humans and ecosystems
2. Provide knowledge on the scientific and quantitative dimensions of climate change
3. Understand the approaches to adaptation, mitigation and resilience
4. Familiarize with the national and international response to climate change and the policy framework

Unit 1: Climate Change and Variability (5 hrs)

1.1 Theories of climate change: Natural and Anthropogenic

1.2 Climate variability and the recent history of climate

1.3 Physics of the greenhouse effect

1.4 Climate feedback

1.5 Black carbon and its role in the Earth-atmosphere system

Unit 2: Paleoclimatology (10 hrs)

2.1 Reconstruction

2.2 Climate change over geological time scales

2.3 Glacial and interglacial cycles of climate change

2.4 Dating methods and tools: Carbon dating, Radioactive dating, Lichenometry, Ice cores (Trace gases, Oxygen isotopes variation), Tree cores, Pollens

2.5 Paleoclimatic reconstruction from lake sediments (Pollen, Diatoms, Organic matter, and Sediment grain)

2.6 Paleoclimate models: Types and comparisons

2.7 Nepalese perspective in paleoclimatology

Unit 3: Climate Modelling and Analysis (15 hrs)

3.1 Numerical weather prediction

3.2 Climate models and their development: Fundamental laws, Structure, Resolution, Parameterization, Feedback

3.3 Climate models: General Circulation Models and Regional Climate Models

3.4 PRECIS climate model

3.5 Modelling infrastructures (Supercomputer and PC), Coupled-Model Intercomparison Project

3.6 Climate projections: Special Report on Emission Scenarios, Representative Concentration Pathways, Uncertainties in climate projection

3.7 Methods of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) inventory and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines, Modelling-based projections of enhanced greenhouse effect

3.8 Climate data analysis: Downscaling (Statistical and Dynamical), Climate analysis software and Climatic indices

Unit 4: Global and Regional Assessment (10 hrs)

4.1 IPCC’s climate change assessment and process

4.2 Latest IPCC report: Scope, Observed change in climate system (Atmosphere, Cryosphere, Ocean, Carbon and other geochemical cycles)

4.3 Drivers of change

4.4 Climatic trends and observed impacts (e.g., glaciers and periglacial environment, hydrology, agriculture) in the Himalaya and Nepal

4.5 Vulnerability: Assessment tools (CVCA, Flowing Forward, EbVA)

4.6 Mitigation: Mitigation approaches in various sectors (including decarbonization, carbon trading), planned and self-adaptive measures

4.7 Adaptation: Adaptation strategies and approaches (Community-based adaptation, Ecosystem-based adaptation), Sectoral adaptation (Agriculture and food security, Water resources and energy, Human health, Biodiversity, Settlement and infrastructure, Tourism, Transportation)

4.8 Indigenous knowledge and practices

4.9 Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) of Nepal

4.10 Resilience: Ecological resilience in theory and practice (application), Resilience across subjective disciplines and linkage with ecological resilience, Adaptation and resilience in ecosystem management, Resilience index, Climate change resilience attempts of Nepal

Unit 5: Policy and Legal Instruments (5 hrs)

5.1 International: UNFCCC and COPs, Framework for adaptation, loss and damage, Kyoto protocol and mechanisms (Clean development, Joint implementation, and Emission trading), Paris agreement (The 2-Degree Limit, INDCs), Joint principles for adaptation

5.2 National: Climate change policies and related laws of Nepal, National communication to UNFCCC, Institutional mechanism and major programmes for climate change management and resilient planning

References

1. Acharya, K.P., Dangi, R.B., Tripathi, D.M., Bushley, B.R., & Bhandary, R.R. (2009). (Eds.). Ready for REDD? Taking stock of experience, opportunities and challenges in Nepal. Nepal Foresters’ Association, Kathmandu.
2. Bradley, R.S. (1999). Paleoclimatology: reconstructing climates of the Quaternary. 2nd ed. Academic Press Limited, London.
3. CDKN, GERMANWATCH, UNU. (2012). Loss and damage: Adverse impacts of climate change loss and damage (Report). https://unfccc.int/adaptation/workstreams/loss_and_damage/items/...
4. Cohen, A.S. (2003). Paleolimnology: the history and evolution of lake systems. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
5. Critchfield, H.J. (1999). General climatology. Prentice-Hall, New Delhi and Earthscan, London.
6. Hardy, J.T. (2004). Climate change: causes, effects and solutions. John Wiley and Sons Ltd., Chichester.
7. Harvey, L.D.D. (2010). Global warming: the hard science. Pearson Education Limited, Harlow.
8. Houghton, J. (2004). Global warming: the complete briefing. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
9. IPCC. (2002). Climate change and biodiversity. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva.
10. IPCC. (2006). Guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva.
11. IPCC. (2013). Climate change 2013: the physical science basis. In T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, G.K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex, & P.M. Midgley (Eds.) Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, USA, pp. 1535.
12. Lal, D.S. (2010). Climatology. Sharda Pustak Bhawan, Allahabad.
13. MoE. (2010). National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) to climate change. Ministry of Environment, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu.
14. MoE. (2010). Climate change vulnerability mapping for Nepal. Ministry of Environment, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu.
15. MoE.(2011). Status of climate change of Nepal. Ministry of Environment, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu.
16. MoPE. (2016). Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) communicated to the UNFCCC Secretariat in February 2016. Ministry of Population and Environment, Government of Nepal.
17. Smith, J., & Peake, S. (2009). Climate change from science to sustainability. Oxford University Press, Oxford.