Do Now:

Write down everything you know or have heard about Global Warming.

Effects of Humans on the

Environment: Climate Change

Hypothesis

Take a moment to write down some hypothesis for what will happen to:

1) The 2 beakers simulating greenhouse effect

2) The glass with ice simulating icebergs and sea ice

3) The glass with ice simulating glaciers and land ice

Why is the Earth warm but Mars and the Moon

are cold?The Greenhouse Effect

The Greenhouse Effect has kept the Earth warm for billions of

years.

Draw a picture to help you

understand how the Greenhouse Effect

works

The problem is, now the greenhouse effect is

more intense and it is making the Earth too

HOT!

Too many carbon emissions (putting CO2 into the air) have put more greenhouse gases into the

atmosphere.

THICKER greenhouse gases have trapped more heat.

This has caused the Earth’s temperature to increase!

Examples of carbon emissions:

a) Burning gas in cars

b) Burning coal/oil in factories

c) Using a lot of electricity

Causes of Global Warming

Burning fossil fuels

Deforestation

Methane (CH4)

Even worse, global warming starts new

processes in motion that SPEED UP warming

Ice caps REFLECT sunlight back into space.

Open ocean ABSORBS sunlight as heat.

As ice caps melt, more light is absorbed than reflected.

As a result, global warming happens more rapidly.

Need more evidence?

11 out of the last 13 years have been the hottest on record.

Ice caps are shrinking:

All scientists agree that

climate change is real

and we must do

something about it

Glaciers Shrinking

1914 2004

Alaska

Photos: NOAA Photo Collection and Gary Braasch – WorldViewOfGlobalWarming.org

Colorado River Arizona

Change over 1 year!

Ice Cores

By drilling into the ice caps and analyzing the layers of ice, scientists can figure out what the climate was like thousands of years ago

This is the data from the last 1000 years

Pair and Share…Stop and Jot

Take a few minutes to summarize the evidence that global warming is occurring. Then, explain which piece of evidence is most alarming to you. Why?

But wait…are Humans really to blame for global warming? Hasn’t

the climate always been changing?

DifferenceGLOBAL WARMING

is the increase of the Earth’s average surface temperature due to a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

CLIMATE CHANGE

is a broader term that refers to long-term changes in climate, including average temperature and precipitation.

Why should we careIncreased Temperature

Habitat Damage and

Species AffectedChanges in Water

Supply

Rising Sea Level

Increased Temperature

Thicker Greenhouse Gases cause increased temperature.

Increased global temperature causes more EXTREME weather. Can be snowier in some

areas, drier in others, more hurricanes

First, lets check out our experiment…

Habitat Destruction and Species

Affected

Sea Level Rise

Sea Ice

Will not cause Sea Level Rise.

However, loss of sea ice will speed up global warming even more.

Land Ice

WILL cause Sea Level Rise

First, let’s check out our experiment

Sea Level Rise

http://flood.firetree.net/

Changes in Water Supply

Global warming DOES NOT decrease the amount of water on the globe

However, global warming DOES change weather patterns and causes droughts in some areas and floods in other places

Even if all this doesn’t convince

you, we should still do something.

Let me show you why…

Ok, what can we do!?

There is no one solution to global warming. In fact, global warming will take a long time to turn around and some effects are inevitable.

We need to make substantial changes to the way we use energy, how our electricity is produced, and how the products we buy are made.

We may even need to find ways of taking CO2 out of the atmosphere!

To see some small ways you can make a difference, we are going to do a GALLERY WALK!

Exit Slip

1) Describe how the greenhouse effect keeps the Earth warm?

2) What are two pieces of evidence for global warming?

3) Why should we care about climate change?