Martha Vasquez

Beatriz Sarabia

Alma Vaca

Heidi Miedecke

Geography 300

February 07, 2013

Lesson Plan 4

LESSON PLAN

Introduction to climate changeTask: to teach children about global warming, the greenhouse effect, their own

carbon footprint and what they can do to reduce it

Time – 1 to 2 hours

4th grade

Standard: “4IE6. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this

concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations.”

Subject areas: science, geography, geology, and history.

The notes are accompanied by a powerpoint presentation.

The sections are as follows:

Section 1: What is climate change? Recent climate history and future projections

15-20 minutes

Section 2: The greenhouse effect10-15 minutes Optional

Section 3: Human activities causing climate change 10-15 minutes

Section 4: Why does climate change matter? 10-15 minutes

What can be done about it?

Section 5: What can governments do?10-15 minutes Optional

Section 6: What can you and your family do? 10-15 minutes

Section 7: Summary 5-10 minutes

Section 1: What is climate change? Recent climate history and future projections

DOWNLOADS

o Variations in the Earth’s surface temperature for the past 140 years (global) and 1000 years (Northern Hemisphere). Source Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Synthesis Report 2001.

Click on the picture to enlarge or follow this link:

http://www.ipcc.ch/graphics/2001syr/large/05.16.jpg

o Forecasts to 2100: Variations in the Earth’s surface temperature 1000 to 2100. Source Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Synthesis Report 2001.

Click on the picture to enlarge or follow this link:

http://www.ipcc.ch/graphics/2001syr/large/05.24.jpg

o Regional temperature increases predicted by 2100. Source Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Synthesis Report 2004.

Click on the picture to enlarge or follow this link:

http://www.ipcc.ch/graphics/syr/spm6.jpg

o Melting glaciers. The retreat of mountain glaciers is captured in these photographs of the Triftgletscher glacier comparing 1948 with 2002 and 2006.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

TEACHER NOTES

First of all what is climate?

Climate is the long-term average of measurements of a region's ‘weather’. Imagine that every day for a year you measured how much rain fell and how many hours of sunshine there were. You could also measure the temperature – once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once at night, say.

[Practical - ask children to measure the outside temperature at a given spot twice a day for the week before / after the lesson. They could also measure rainfall].

You could work out an ‘average’ level of rainfall and sunshine for each month, and an ‘average’ temperature. These seasonal averages can be used to describe a region’s climate.

[Discuss the climate in different parts of the world – the UK, the desert, Asia, Spain. Which countries have they visited and what was the weather like?]

How does climate differ from weather?

Weather describes whatever is happening outdoors in a given place at a given time. Weather is what happens from minute to minute. The weather can change a lot within a very short time. For example, it may rain for an hour and then become sunny and clear. Weather is what we hear about on the television news every night. What is it like outdoors now? What was it like on Christmas Day?

Climate describes the total of all weather occurring over a period of years in a given place. This includes average weather conditions, regular weather sequences (like winter, spring, summer, and fall), and special weather events (like heat waves and floods). Climate tells us what it's usually like in the place where you live.

Climate change

Climate change represents a change in these long-term weather patterns. Average temperatures can increase or decrease. Rainfall can increase or decrease, as can hours of sunshine.

Climate change has occurred naturally over millions and millions of years. However when scientists talk about the issue of climate change, their concern is about global warming caused by human activities.

The earth is warming

See DOWNLOADS.

The earth has warmed by over 0.5°C in the last 100 years. The eleven years 1995-2006 rank amongst the twelve warmest years since records of global surface temperature began in 1850.

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.

Melting Glaciers: a glacier is a large sheet of ice that moves very, very slowly. Many glaciers in the world are now melting. Some scientists think the glaciers are melting partly because the Earth is getting warmer. The summer ice in the arctic is predicted to disappear completely between 2013 and 2040; a state not seen on earth for more than a million years.Rising Sea Levels: the level of the sea is rising, so high tides are higher than they were before. Over the last 100 years, the level of the sea has risen about 15-20cm worldwide.

Scientists think the sea has risen partly because of melting glaciers and sea ice. When some glaciers melt, they release water into the sea and make it higher than it was before. Scientists also think that warmer temperatures in the sea make it rise even more. Heat makes water expand. When the ocean expands, it takes up more space.

Seeing into the future

Predicting changes in the climate over the next 100 years and beyond is difficult. However in general scientists agree that temperature rises of 2°C above pre-industrial levels are almost inevitable, and rises of 3°C are likely. The most pessimistic models predict that the average global temperature might increase to 6°C above its pre-industrial level.

This may not sound like much, but it could change the earth's climate as never before. At the peak of the last ice age (18,000 years ago), the temperature was only 4ºC colder than it is today, and glaciers covered much of North America.

Even a small increase in temperature over a long time can change the climate. When the climate changes, there may be big changes in the things that people depend on. These things include the level of the oceans and the places where we plant crops. They also include the air we breathe and the water we drink.

The download (Regional temperature increases predicted by 2100) shows surface temperature increases across the globe expected by the end of this century, assuming a world of very rapid economic growth, a global population that peaks in mid-century and rapid introduction of new and more efficient technologies.

The largest temperature increases are expected to be over land at high latitudes in the Northern hemisphere, with the maximum increase in the Arctic. The smallest increases are over the Southern Ocean and parts of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Section 2: The greenhouse effect

DOWNLOADS

o Greenhouse schematic

Click on the picture to enlarge.

o The Greenhouse Effect

Click on the picture to enlarge.

TEACHER NOTES

For an advanced discussion of the greenhouse effect, see The Greenhouse effect (Advanced Maths and Physics).

The greenhouse analogy

Have you ever seen a greenhouse? Most greenhouses look like a small glass house. Greenhouses are used to grow plants, especially in the winter. 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.

Explaining the greenhouse effect in terms of incoming and outgoing radiation

The earth’s atmosphere (the air that we breathe) contains a number of so called greenhouse gases. The ones most closely associated with global warming are carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). These gases behave like the glass panes in a greenhouse.

Section 3: Human activities causing climate change

DOWNLOADS

o Burning fossil fuels

Click on the picture to enlarge.

o Busy people

Click on the picture to enlarge.

o Harnessing methane from cows ...

TEACHER NOTES

During the Industrial Revolution, we began altering our climate and environment through agricultural and industrial practices. The Industrial Revolution was a time when people began using machines to make life easier. It started more than 200 years ago and changed the way humans live. Before the Industrial Revolution, human activity released very few gases into the atmosphere, but now through population growth, fossil fuel burning, and deforestation, we are affecting the mixture of gases in the atmosphere.

Burning fossil fuels

Since the Industrial Revolution, the need for energy to run machines has steadily increased. Much of this energy comes from fuels like coal and oil � fossil fuels. Burning these fuels releases greenhouse gases. Note that coal and oil are the primary fuel used by power plants in making electricity � so most things that run on electricity indirectly

cause greenhouse gas emissions (unless they use what�s called renewable energy � solar, wind, nuclear).

All of these every day activities contribute to global warming:

Flying is very bad for global warming. Why?

One short-haul return flight for a family of four will add 33% to the family’s annual carbon emissions.

The emissions from one person flying to Australia and back equal the emissions for an average family of four for a whole year.

As well as emitting CO2 aircraft emit nitrogen oxides which are particularly effective in forming the greenhouse gas ozone when emitted at cruising altitudes. Aircraft also trigger the formation of condensation trails which are suspected of enhancing the formation of cirrus clouds, which add to the global warming effect.

Aviation emissions account for at least 9% of UK greenhouse effect. Over a single journey of 500km an aircraft emits six times more greenhouse gas than a high speed train, and 12 times more than a coach.

Deforestation

o Mature forests store enormous quantities of carbon, both in the trees and vegetation itself and within the soil in the form of decaying plant matter.

o When trees are cut down or burnt, the stored carbon is released into the atmosphere.

o We are destroying forests at an alarming rate: global forest cover is currently around 3952 million hectare (30% of the world’s land area). Between 2000 and 2005 the net loss of forest was 28,000 square miles per annum, with the largest losses in South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. 1,250 square miles were lost in the Amazon in the last five months of 2007 alone. Deforestation is such a problem that Indonesia and Brazil are now the third and fourth largest emitters of carbon dioxide on the planet.

For more information about rainforests and deforestation see: http://www.rainforestsos.org/pages/schools/

Other things producing greenhouse gases

o Rubbish sent to landfills produces methane.

o Methane is also produced by the animals we raise for dairy and meat products (primarily cows). Could this be harnessed? (See Downloads!)

Section 4: Why does climate change matter?

DOWNLOADS

o The human cost of climate change

Right click the image and select 'save target/link as' to download the file.

o Species endangered by climate change

Right click the image and select 'save target/link as' to download the file.

TEACHER NOTES

The human cost of climate change

It is clear that climate change threatens the basic elements of life for people around the world - access to water, food production, health, and use of land and the environment.

Milder winters, warmer summers ... in theory global warming sounds quite appealing. Indeed there will be some benefits from climate change in some region – higher agricultural yields and increased water availability in certain areas. However these are expected to be far outweighed by the negatives.

o Scientists have warned that half the world's population could face a shortage of clean water by 2080 because of climate change.

o More than one sixth of the world’s population live in regions supplied by melt water from major mountain ranges (e.g. Himalayas, Andes). Contracting glaciers and melting snow will significantly reduce the water available for drinking, irrigation and hydropower.

o By 2020 between 75 and 250 million people in Africa are projected to be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change. Looking further ahead, that number could increase to 600 million, with another billion under pressure in Asia.

o Production from agriculture and forestry will also decline in many places including Africa and parts of Australia and New Zealand. By 2020, yields from rain-fed agriculture in some parts of Africa could be reduced by up to 50%, leaving hundreds of millions without the ability to produce or purchase sufficient food.

o Increased variability in rainfall is expected to increase the risks of flooding even in areas in which the overall level of rainfall is projected to decrease. According to one estimate, by the middle of the century, 200 million people may become permanently displaced due to rising sea levels, heavier floods, and more intense droughts.

o Increased mortality from floods, heat waves and droughts are expected in many parts of the world, including Europe and North America. Heat waves like that experienced in 2003 in Europe, when 35,000 people died and agricultural losses reached $15 billion, will be commonplace by the middle of the century.

o The fallout could be political and economic instability which would have implications for everyone.

Species endangered by climate change

Climate change may alter the world's habitats and ecosystems – all living things are included in and rely on these places. Many of these places depend on a delicate balance of rainfall, temperature, and soil type. A rapid change in climate could upset this balance and seriously endanger many living things.

Most past climate changes occurred slowly, allowing plants and animals to adapt to the new environment or move somewhere else. However, if future climate changes occur as rapidly as some scientists predict, plants and animals may not be able to react quickly enough to survive. The ocean's ecosystems also could be affected for the same reasons.

Species at risk around the world

Scientists predict that global warming could contribute to the mass extinction of wild animals in the near future.

An overheating world is creating a big change in climatic conditions and this can harm the delicate ecosystems in which species live. Threatened species can already be found all over the world - see the examples below.

CanadaThe polar bear could disappear in the wild unless the pace of global warming slows. Dependent on sea ice, the animal uses it as a floating platform to catch prey. Experts believe that the Arctic sea ice is melting at a rate of 9% per decade, endangering the polar bear’s habitat and existence.

South AmericaSea turtles lay their eggs on Brazilian beaches, many of which are threatened by rising sea levels. Climate change also threatens the offspring of sea turtles, as nest temperature strongly determines the sex: the coldest sites produce male offspring, while the warmer sites produce female offspring.

This nest-warming trend is reducing the number of male offspring and seriously threatens turtle populations.

AmericaThe North Atlantic right whale is one of the most endangered of all large whales, with a long history of human exploitation. Since warming waters contain less plankton for whales to feed on, the availability of food due to climate fluctuations is also becoming an increasing cause of mortality. Between 300 and 350 individuals still exist, with little hope of population growth.

ChinaThe giant panda's future remains uncertain due to a number of threats. Its forest habitat in the mountainous areas of south-western China is fragmented, and giant panda populations are small and isolated from each other. Bamboo, the panda’s staple

diet, is also part of a delicate ecosystem that could be affected by the changes caused by global warming. Poaching too remains an everpresent threat, with only 1,600 individuals left in the wild.

IndonesiaAsia’s only ape – the orang-utan – is in deep trouble. Its last remaining strongholds in the rainforests of Indonesia are being threatened by a range of pressures, including climate change, putting the animal at risk of extinction within a few decades. With global warming increasing the duration and frequency of droughts, bushfires are occurring more often in these heavily logged forests, further fragmenting the orang-utan’s living space.

AfricaIn Africa, elephants face a range of threats including shrinking living space, which brings them more frequently into conflict with people. With diminished living space, elephants will be unable to escape any changes to their natural habitat caused by global warming, including more frequent and longer dry periods, placing further pressure on their existence.

AustraliaClimate change is affecting home range, abundance and breeding cycles of many of Australia’s frog species. Since frogs rely on water to breed, any reduction or change in rainfall could reduce frog reproduction. Higher temperatures contribute to the drying out of breeding pools, and as a result, to the deaths of tadpoles and eggs. Drier conditions also cause adult frogs to die, due to increased rates of internal water loss through their permeable skin.

IndiaOnly 6,000 or so tigers remain in the wild, due to poaching, the loss of their habitat and depletion of the tiger’s natural prey. Hunters, traders and poor local residents use the forest for subsistence, directly competing with the tiger. Some of the largest remaining areas where tigers occur are the mangrove forests of India. The projected rise in sea levels could cause these living spaces of the tiger to vanish altogether.

Rising sea levels, melting ice

Global warming may make the sea level become higher. Why? Well, warmer weather makes glaciers melt. A glacier is a large sheet of ice that moves very, very slowly. Some melting glaciers add more water to the ocean. Warmer temperatures also make water expand. When water expands in the ocean, it takes up more space and the level of the sea rises.

Sea level may rise between 20cm and 1m during the next century. Thermal expansion could continue for many centuries, due to the time required to transport heat into the deep ocean. The final equilibrium sea levels could be almost 4 metres higher than pre-industrial levels.

This will effect both natural systems and manmade structures along coastlines. Coastal flooding could cause saltwater to flow into areas where salt is harmful, threatening plants and animals in those areas. Oceanfront property would be affected by flooding, and beach erosion could leave structures even more vulnerable to storm waves. Whether we move back from the water or build barricades in the face of a rising sea, it could cost billions of dollars to adapt to such change. Coastal flooding also may reduce the quality of drinking water in coastal areas.

The Arctic Ocean is today losing sea ice at a rate that was not expected to be reached for another 30 years. The summer sea ice is expected to disappear completely between 2013 and 2040; a state not seen on earth for more than a million years.

In 2007 the area of the Greenland Ice Sheet affected by melting was 60% greater than in 1998.

Sections 5 and 6: What can we do about climate change?

What we do in the next 10 or 20 years will have a profound effect on the climate in the second half of this century and in the next.

But what can we do?

The answer is simple: we need to stop burning fossil fuels at such an alarming rate and we need to stop destroying the rain forests.

Section 5: What can governments can do? (Optional)

TEACHER NOTES

Putting a price on carbon; the polluter pays

Almost every aspect of economic activity results in greenhouse gas emissions. The fight against climate change requires a fundamental change to the basis of our fossil fuelled economies.

The most effective way to motivate such fundamental change is to ensure that the true environmental cost of carbon is reflected in the cost of fuel, electricity and food.

This can be achieved through taxation, regulation and through the ‘shadow price of carbon’, used by the government to evaluate investment decisions.

The carbon price is an amount payable per tonne of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere:

o Carbon prices around US$20-50 /tCO2 eq are felt to be sufficient to drive large scale fuel-switching and make both CCS (carbon capture and storage) and low-carbon power sources economic as technologies mature.

To put this in perspective the average UK household emits approximately 9 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year (excluding emissions from flights). At a carbon price of £25 per tonne, average fuel and energy bills will rise by £225 per year. At a carbon price of £50 per tonne, average fuel and energy bills will rise by £450 per year.

A flight to Australia and back emits over 10 tonnes of carbon per passenger when the effects of radiative forcing are taken into account. At a carbon price of £50 per year, the price of the flight would rise by £500.

Caps on emissions; emissions trading

Kyoto's clean development mechanism caps emissions by rich countries, forcing them to buy permits from poor countries to emit greenhouse gases

The emissions trading program of the European Union is the hub of the global market; the value of EU carbon emissions trading reached $50bn in 2007.

Cutting emissions from energy generation

It is estimated that 60-80% of reductions in emissions will need to come from energy generation, by saving energy and by using carbon-free technology (renewable, nuclear and carbon capture and storage).

Future energy infrastructure investment decisions (expected to total over US$20 trillion between 2007 and 2030) will have long term impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. A wide range of energy-supply mitigation options are available:

o Fuel switching and plant efficiency

o Nuclear

o Hydro

o Wind

o Bio-energy

o Geothermal

o Solar PV and concentrated solar power

o Coal in conjunction with carbon capture and storage (burying carbon dioxide emissions underground)

o Gas in conjunction with carbon capture and storage (burying carbon dioxide emissions underground)

Cutting emissions from deforestation

Land use and deforestation account for approximately 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Action to prevent further deforestation is needed urgently. Most proposals involve countries claiming credits for valuable forests, which they could then trade.

Developing countries

The poorest developing countries will be hit earliest and hardest by climate change, even though they have contributed little to causing the problem. Their low incomes make it difficult to finance adaptation.

The international community has an obligation to support them in adapting to climate change, and in switching to a low carbon economy.

Developing countries are already taking significant action to decouple their economic growth from the growth in greenhouse gas emissions. For example, China has adopted very ambitious domestic goals to reduce energy used for each unit of GDP by 20% from 2006-2010 and to promote the use of renewable energy. India hascreated an Integrated Energy Policy for the same period that includes measures to expand access to cleaner energy for poor people and to increase energy efficiency.

The Clean Development Mechanism, created by the Kyoto Protocol, is currently the main formal channel for supporting low-carbon investment in developing countries. It allows both governments and the private sector to invest in projects that reduce emissions in fast-growing emerging economies.

Section 6: What can you and your family can do?

TEACHER NOTES

Any activity that uses energy produced by burning fossil fuels increases the level of greenhouse gases in the air.

Transport:

These activities all increase the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere:

o Riding in a car

o Getting on a bus or train

o Flying

Home energy use:

Unless you are using ‘renewable’ energy – eg from a wind turbine or from solar panels, these activities all increase the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere:

o Turning on the lights

o Watching TV

o Using the computer

o Washing and drying clothes

o Cooking a meal

o Heating your water

o Heating your home

Food for thought:

o In the UK emissions from homes are responsible for an estimated 27% of the UK’s total carbon emissions. You and your family’s behaviour and choice and use of technologies are major determinants of your energy use.

o A report by the Energy Saving Trust predicts that by 2010 the UK could waste up to £11 billion annually and emit around 43 million tonnes of carbon dioxide through wasted energy, such as leaving lights on and appliances on standby.

o More than 30% of the trips made by cars in Europe are for less than 2 miles and 50% for less than 3 miles. Walking or cycling will cut emissions and improve air quality, reduce congestion and improve road safety.

Cutting all of these activities will help to cut your contribution to climate change:

o Ride a bike or walk instead of going by car

o Turn the lights off when you leave the room

o Cut your TV watching. Don’t leave the TV on standby – turn it off at the wall.

o Recycle as much as possible. Recycle cans, bottles, plastic bags, and newspapers. When you recycle, you send less rubbish to the landfill and you help save natural resources, like trees, oil, and elements such as aluminium.

o Don’t waste food

o Eat less beef and dairy products. Cows produce methane which is one of the most damaging greenhouse gases.

o Plant trees. Planting trees is fun and a great way to reduce greenhouse gases. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the air.

o When You Buy, Buy Cool Stuff. Buy recycled products which don’t use ‘new’ resources and don’t require so much energy to make. Buy energy efficient electrical goods.

Ask your parents to:

o Try not to fly (the emissions from flights are really high). Take the train instead: a short haul flight emits six times as much carbon per passenger as a high speed train, and 12 times as much as a coach.

o Use low energy light bulbs

o Turn the thermostat down

o Make sure their loft and hot water tank are properly insulated to stop heat from being lost unnecessarily.

o Switch to ‘green energy’. Companies like ‘Good energy’ offer energy produced by solar power and wind turbines.

o Install their own solar panels or wind turbine.

o Make their car as energy efficient as possible. Choose a smaller engine: small is beautiful. A 2.0 litre engine emits 40% more CO2 per mile than a car with an engine size 1.4 – 2.0 litres. They could also switch their vehicle to LPG (autogas) - it’s 40% cheaper and greener. As well as cutting CO2 emissions by 20%, they will also cut production of harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide by more than half.

And don’t forget to tell your friends and family what you have learnt!

Section 7: Summary

DOWNLOAD

SUMMARY OF WHAT WE HAVE LEARNT

Average temperatures around the world are increasing.

Whenever we burn fossil fuels or cut down trees we release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide and methane.

These gases trap heat in the atmosphere and warm up the earth. The more we burn fossil fuels and cut down trees, the more the earth’s surface heats up.

The average temperature is expected to rise by at least 2°C by the end of this century, probably more.

Whilst this doesn’t sound like much, it is enough to ensure billions of people could suffer from water shortages and heatwaves. In addition melting ice sheets and rising sea levels could cause flooding and the displacement of millions of people.

30% of animal species are thought to be at risk of extinction.

We all need to tackle climate change – by cutting our use of energy and switching to renewable sources of energy (energy produced by the sun, wind, hydro-electricity and nuclear).