You believe it and cannot defend it
The conclusion is familiar and the reasoning is not.
Courses
Start with three things you can do today
How to understand climate science and the evidence
Understand the science behind climate change, including what is uncertain.
The greenhouse effect concerns Earth's energy balance. Greenhouse gases absorb and emit infrared radiation, affecting the loss of energy to space. Human emissions have strengthened this effect. Separate that mechanism from a local weather event and from the assumptions behind a future projection.
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A starting goal
I want to understand the science behind climate change. Explain the greenhouse effect, the evidence scientists use, and how uncertainty differs from not knowing anything.
Change any word so it fits your situation. The course is built from what you type and a few setup questions.
Start today
Three things you can do before the course exists.
Useful on their own. The course is for when you want the whole skill, not just the first move.
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Start with a simple energy account
Invented illustration: a system absorbs 100 energy units during an interval and emits 100, so there is no net gain. If it absorbs 100 and emits 99 during the next interval, it gains one unit. The numbers explain a balance; they are not measured values for Earth.
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Connect the account to radiation
Earth absorbs sunlight and emits infrared radiation. Greenhouse gases interact with that outgoing radiation. Increasing them can reduce outgoing energy at a given temperature, leading to warming until the balance adjusts. A closed car also restricts air movement, so it is not a complete model of this atmospheric process.
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Check the claim you are reading
A cold afternoon in one town does not determine the long-term global average. For a climate graph, identify its area, time span, reference period and uncertainty. For a projection, also identify the emissions scenario. Uncertainty must be stated for the specific claim; it is not a reason to disregard established evidence of human-caused warming.
Sources: NASA: greenhouse effect and energy balance; NASA: causes and evidence of human influence. Practical examples are starting points, not promised results.
- Best for
- Science & nature
- Prerequisites
- None. Bring the situation you have.
- Course length
- 7 to 30 lessons
- Pace
- Yours. One lesson at a time, as often as you like.
- Format
- Read it, or play the audio
- Access
- Available on the App Store and Google Play, with an optional early testing list
Before the course is built
Setup asks about your situation first.
Lesson 1 opens on the moment you describe, and the examples use your role. For this request, expect questions like these.
- What do you want: the basic science, the evidence, or help judging competing claims?
- How confident do you feel about the basics now?
- Do you meet arguments about climate that you cannot evaluate?
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
Uncertainty confuses you
Scientists say they are uncertain and also certain, and you do not know how both can be true.
You want to evaluate claims yourself
Headlines and arguments come from all sides and you would like your own footing.
Course arc
Where the course goes, in order.
Cadence writes the lessons for you, so the exact path follows your answers. This is the ground a course built from this sentence covers.
01 / 06The greenhouse effect
Energy in, energy out, and what certain gases do to the balance.
The evidence
Temperature records, ice cores, sea level, ocean heat and what each independently shows.
Attribution
How scientists tell human influence from natural variation.
Uncertainty
Distinguish measurement uncertainty, model limits, natural variability and future emissions assumptions.
Models
What climate models are, how they are tested and what they can and cannot predict.
Reading claims
Applying the science to arguments you meet.
What changes
What you will be able to do, and what you will stop believing.
You will be able to
Explain the greenhouse effect
Describe how it works and why adding gases changes the balance.
Know the evidence
Name the independent lines of evidence and what each shows.
Read uncertainty correctly
Distinguish uncertainty about details from doubt about the basics.
Ideas this course corrects
Past natural changes explain the present warming by themselves
Attribution compares possible causes with observations. NASA describes human activities as the main driver of the warming since the mid-twentieth century.
Every climate quantity is known equally well
Uncertainty differs across measurements, mechanisms, places and projections. A scenario-dependent range is not the same as uncertainty about whether greenhouse gases interact with infrared radiation.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
How to understand climate science and the evidence: what can I do today?
Start with a simple energy account. Invented illustration: a system absorbs 100 energy units during an interval and emits 100, so there is no net gain. If it absorbs 100 and emits 99 during the next interval, it gains one unit. The numbers explain a balance; they are not measured values for Earth. Connect the account to radiation. Earth absorbs sunlight and emits infrared radiation. Greenhouse gases interact with that outgoing radiation. Increasing them can reduce outgoing energy at a given temperature, leading to warming until the balance adjusts. A closed car also restricts air movement, so it is not a complete model of this atmospheric process. Check the claim you are reading. A cold afternoon in one town does not determine the long-term global average. For a climate graph, identify its area, time span, reference period and uncertainty. For a projection, also identify the emissions scenario. Uncertainty must be stated for the specific claim; it is not a reason to disregard established evidence of human-caused warming.
Is this a fixed course?
No. Cadence builds the course when you type the sentence and answer a few setup questions, so the lessons follow your situation. This page describes what a course built from this request covers. You see the whole path before Lesson 1.
Who is this course for?
The greenhouse effect concerns Earth's energy balance. Greenhouse gases absorb and emit infrared radiation, affecting the loss of energy to space. Human emissions have strengthened this effect. Separate that mechanism from a local weather event and from the assumptions behind a future projection. It sits under Science & nature in the Ideas & discovery part of the library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Setup asks what you already know and where you want to use it, and the course starts from there. Bring a real situation if you have one; the examples are built around it.
How long does it take?
Most courses run 7 to 30 lessons. The course length is sized to what you asked for. You set the pace: one lesson at a time, as often as you like. Lessons can be read or played as audio.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Type it, answer a few questions, open Lesson 1.
A starting goal
I want to understand the science behind climate change. Explain the greenhouse effect, the evidence scientists use, and how uncertainty differs from not knowing anything.
Want new features first?