Earth Science, Focused on Natural Disasters 7.5 credits

About the course

The course covers geoscientific processes that can give rise to natural disasters or disaster-like situations for humans. The focus is on explaining the origins, occurrences, and consequences of these processes. The processes covered include plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanism, mass movements, climatology, and hydrology. The course aims to provide an understanding of why certain processes occur in different parts of the world and lead to various consequences depending on their occurrence and interaction with the surrounding society.

The course begins with a geoscientific overview, including a discussion of the concepts of natural disasters and natural hazards. The structure of the Earth is explained, and an introduction to plate tectonic processes is provided. This is followed by a discussion on the origins and occurrences of earthquakes. Further, volcanology is covered, describing volcanic processes, types of volcanoes, and their consequences. Mass movements or slope processes are another geoscientific process that can have both large- and small-scale consequences. The most common types of mass movements and their connections to phenomena such as volcanism, precipitation, earthquakes, etc., are described here. The climatology section begins with a general orientation about the world's climate. It exemplifies global geographical differences regarding temperature and precipitation. Different types of weather phenomena are also described. An introduction to long-term climate changes, including the geologic perspective of extinction events follows. Other topics include forest fires, coastal erosion, and flooding.

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Autumn 2025
- Earth Science, Focused on Natural Disasters
  
  Autumn 2025 / Umeå / English / On site
  
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  Starts
  1 September 2025
  
  Ends
  30 September 2025
  
  Number of credits
  7.5 credits
  
  Type of studies
  On site
  
  Study pace
  100%
  
  Teaching hours
  Daytime
  
  Study location
  Umeå
  
  Language
  English
  
  Application code
  UMU-50701
  
  Selection
  Results-National university aptitude test-Academic credits
  
  Application
  Application deadline was 15 April 2025. The application period is closed.
  
  Application and tuition fees
  As a citizen of a country outside the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, you are required to pay application and tuition fees for studies at Umeå University.
  
  Application fee: SEK 900
  
  Tuition fee, first instalment: SEK 19,038
  
  Total fee: SEK 19,038
  
  Details about tuition, fees and funding

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