Climate change is a huge topic, touching on many Earth systems and driven by basic forces and rules of physics and chemistry. Before we dig to deeply into our understanding of these forces and rules let's first look at the difference between climate and weather.  This video below dose a nice job of calling out the differences. 

Neil DeGrasse Tyson clip from Cosmos / National Geographic website (2:09) 

Ok now let's move on to climate related science. This quick history of climate change research documents that scientists have understood the science and the implications of increasing carbon dioxide in our atmosphere for over one hundred years. (1:40) 

For a little more detail, read this New York Times article from Nov 28, 2015: Short Answers to Hard Questions about Climate Change.

The University of Victoria's Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions has a nice compilation of videos about climate change. We will look at several of them during this course. For now, open this viewer and watch PICS Lesson One, videos 2, 3, and 4.

2. Global Mean Temperature (1:29)

3. Carbon Dioxide & the Greenhouse Effect (1:59)

4. Keeling Curve (1:33)

Finally, read Part 1, Evidence for Human-Caused Climate Change, in the document we asked you to access in the Welcome and Introductions section: Climate Change: Evidence, Impacts, and Choices.