Climate Change: It s Not Just About Polar Bears

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1 Name Period Climate Change: It s Not Just About Polar Bears Complete the following table before you begin this activity and again when you have completed it. Before Statement After Agree Disagree Agree Disagree The patterns of weather on the Earth are constantly changing. We can t do anything about climate change. Climate change will affect the economy of Ohio. A one degree Fahrenheit change in average temperature won t matter to the environment. Climate change is not happening in Ohio. From data collected over the last 100 years, scientists have found that the average temperature of the Earth has by 0.6⁰C. Ten out of the last 12 years have been the warmest on record since 1861 (IPCC 2007). Climate change will affect our water, energy, transportation and public health systems. These changes will stress our environment and economy. We have heard the reports about sea levels rising, glaciers melting and the consequences to climate change to animals, like polar bears, in the Arctic. The question on the local level is: What are the consequences of climate change in your backyard in Ohio? Background Information Climate Change: Climate is the long term average of a region's Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. events lumped together. Climate change represents a change in these long term weather patterns. They can become warmer or colder. Annual amounts of rainfall or snowfall can increase or decrease. Global Warming: Global warming refers to an average increase in the Earth's temperature, which in turn causes changes in climate. A warmer Earth may lead to changes in rainfall patterns, a rise in sea level, and a wide range of impacts on plants, wildlife, and humans. When scientists talk about the issue of climate change, their concern is about global warming caused by human activities. The Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. is the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. (water vapor, Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., and Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., for example) trap energy from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earth s average temperature would be about 60Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. colder. Because of how they warm our world, these gases are referred to as Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.. Greenhouses look like a small glass house. Greenhouses work by trapping heat from the sun. The glass panels of the greenhouse let in light but keep heat from escaping. This causes the greenhouse to heat up, much like the inside of a car parked in sunlight, and keeps the plants warm enough to live in the winter. The Earth s atmosphere is all around us. It is the air that we breathe. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere behave much like the glass panes in a greenhouse. Sunlight enters the Earth's atmosphere, passing through the blanket of greenhouse gases. As it reaches the Earth's surface, land, water, and Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. absorb the sunlight s energy. Once absorbed, this energy is sent back into the atmosphere. Some of the

2 energy passes back into space, but much of it remains trapped in the atmosphere by the greenhouse gases, causing our world to heat up. Objectives Procedure From You will use a Google Earth tour of Ohio with Placemarks that will make you familiar with the environmental and economic issues of climate change in Ohio. Review the principles of climate change Become aware of current problems with agriculture and natural resources Recognize that climate change has human health implications Know that climate change will stress the economy of the state Understand the connections between climate change and temperate environment of Ohio Become aware so that students can make educated choices about how they live 1. Open Google Earth. 2. Open Ohio Climate Change Effects tour. Be sure the state of Ohio is framed on your screen. 3. In the Places menu on the left side of the screen, click on Placemark A. The map will fly to that area. Still in the Places menu, click on the blue title for that placemark. Read the information, look at the image and answer the question. You may need to click on a link to help you find the answer. Record your answers in the following spaces. Placemarks and Questions A. 1. B. 2. C. 3. D. 4.

3 E. 5. F. 6. G. 7. H. 8. I. 9. J. 10. K. 11. L. 12. M. 13. N. 14.

4 Wrap up 1. The next part of this activity is called Write Around. You will get with a group of four other students, a total of five counting yourself. You will complete the Introductory Phrase as a sentence. When directed, you will pass your paper to the left. Read the complete first sentence. Add another complete sentence to strengthen the topic sentence. When done, pass that paper to the left and continue the process until you have your own paper. Write a concluding sentence to complete your original idea. 2. As a group, discuss your papers. 3. Write several sentences about what you could do about helping our state and planet. Climate change will affect polar bears but will also affect me by: This is what I can do Complete the Agree and Disagree chart at the beginning of the lesson.

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