Environmental Science: Climate Change
Causes, evidence, impacts, and solutions
Environmental Science: Climate Change
Causes, evidence, impacts, and solutions
Environmental Science - Grade 9-12
- 1
Explain the difference between weather and climate. Include one example of each in your answer.
Think about the difference between today's conditions and a 30-year average.
Weather describes short-term atmospheric conditions, such as a thunderstorm this afternoon. Climate describes long-term patterns over many years, such as a region having hot, dry summers on average. - 2
Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are greenhouse gases. Describe how greenhouse gases affect Earth's energy balance.
Greenhouse gases allow much incoming sunlight to reach Earth's surface, but they absorb and re-emit some outgoing infrared radiation. This keeps more heat in the lower atmosphere and warms Earth's surface. - 3
A graph shows atmospheric carbon dioxide rising from about 315 ppm in 1958 to about 420 ppm in 2023. Calculate the approximate increase in carbon dioxide concentration over this period.
Subtract the earlier concentration from the later concentration.
The approximate increase is 105 ppm because 420 ppm minus 315 ppm equals 105 ppm. - 4
Name two major human activities that increase atmospheric carbon dioxide and explain how each activity releases carbon dioxide.
Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide because coal, oil, and natural gas contain carbon that combines with oxygen during combustion. Deforestation increases carbon dioxide because fewer trees remain to absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, and cutting or burning trees can release stored carbon. - 5
Methane is less abundant than carbon dioxide but is a powerful greenhouse gas. Identify two human-related sources of methane emissions.
Consider agriculture, energy production, and waste.
Two human-related sources of methane are livestock digestion, especially from cattle, and leaks from natural gas production and pipelines. Landfills and rice paddies are also important methane sources. - 6
Scientists use ice cores as evidence of past climate. Explain what information ice cores can provide and why they are useful.
Ice cores contain trapped air bubbles that preserve samples of past atmospheric gases, including carbon dioxide and methane. The layers and chemical composition of the ice can also provide clues about past temperatures and precipitation, making ice cores useful for reconstructing climate history. - 7
Describe two types of evidence, other than ice cores, that show Earth's climate is warming.
Think about land, ocean, ice, and living organisms.
Evidence of warming includes rising global average surface temperatures and melting glaciers or ice sheets. Other evidence includes earlier spring events, rising sea level, warming oceans, and shifts in species ranges. - 8
A coastal city has recorded sea level rise of 3.4 millimeters per year. At that constant rate, about how many centimeters would sea level rise in 50 years?
There are 10 millimeters in 1 centimeter.
Sea level would rise about 17 centimeters in 50 years. The calculation is 3.4 millimeters per year times 50 years, which equals 170 millimeters, and 170 millimeters equals 17 centimeters. - 9
Explain two reasons why global sea level rises as the climate warms.
Global sea level rises because warming ocean water expands, which is called thermal expansion. Sea level also rises when glaciers and ice sheets on land melt and add water to the ocean. - 10
A student says, "If it still snows in winter, climate change cannot be happening." Write a scientific response to correct this misconception.
Use the terms weather and climate in your response.
This statement confuses weather with climate. Snow can still occur during a warming climate because weather varies from day to day, but long-term data can still show increasing average temperatures, changing snowfall patterns, and more frequent heat extremes. - 11
Describe how climate change can affect the water cycle. Include at least two specific effects.
Climate change can intensify the water cycle because warmer air can hold more water vapor. This can lead to heavier rainfall in some places, more flooding, greater evaporation, and more severe drought in other places. - 12
Explain how climate change can affect human health. Provide two examples.
Climate change can affect human health by increasing heat-related illness during more frequent or intense heat waves. It can also worsen air quality, expand the range of some disease-carrying insects, and increase risks from floods, wildfires, and food or water shortages. - 13
Compare mitigation and adaptation as climate change responses. Give one example of each.
Mitigation addresses causes, while adaptation addresses effects.
Mitigation means reducing the causes of climate change, such as lowering greenhouse gas emissions by using renewable energy. Adaptation means adjusting to climate impacts that are already happening or expected, such as building sea walls or designing heat action plans. - 14
A community is choosing between two climate actions: replacing diesel buses with electric buses or raising roads that flood during high tides. Identify which action is mitigation and which is adaptation, and explain your reasoning.
Replacing diesel buses with electric buses is mitigation because it can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Raising roads that flood during high tides is adaptation because it helps the community cope with sea level rise and flooding impacts. - 15
Evaluate this claim: "Planting trees is the only solution needed for climate change." Write a short response that uses scientific reasoning.
Consider both carbon removal and emission reduction.
Planting trees can help because trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but it is not the only solution needed. Climate change also requires major reductions in fossil fuel emissions, improvements in energy efficiency, protection of existing forests, changes in transportation and industry, and adaptation to impacts already occurring.