About the lecture

In this first lecture, we begin by delving into the historical and scientific understanding of climate. We explain the origins of our knowledge about the greenhouse effect, dating back to the experiments of scientists like Eunice Foote and John Tyndall in the 19th century. We then move on to discuss how greenhouse gases such as water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, leading to global warming. We emphasise the significant role of human activities, particularly industrialisation and agriculture in increasing the levels of these gases since pre-industrial times.

About the lecturer

Mark Maslin is Professor of Earth System Science at the University College London. He is also a Royal Society Industrial Fellowship, Executive Director of Rezatec Ltd and Director of The London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership. I am a member of the Cheltenham Science Festival Advisory Committee and sit on the Corporate Social Responsibility Board of the Sopria-Steria Group and Sheep Included Ltd. He is also a leading scientist with particular expertise in past global and regional climatic change and has published over 175 papers in journals such as Science, Nature, and The Lancet. He has been PI or Co-I on grants, projects and consultancy worth over £65 million. His areas of scientific expertise include causes of past and future global climate change and its effects on the global carbon cycle, biodiversity, rainforests and human evolution. He also works on monitoring land carbon sinks using remote sensing and ecological models and international and national climate change policies.