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Welcome Thank you for using this pre-visit resource. We believe this will help strengthen student learning leading up to and during your gallery visit.

Changing Climate Te Tuhi Pre-visit lesson 1 Image:

Welcome to Changing Climate During the next few lessons we will be exploring…  Climate change  Changing climate  Art and climate change Image:

Let’s start this lesson by learning about “Climate change”. Image:

What is climate change? Climate change is about the changes that are happening to our planet. These changes include: Shrinking mountain glaciers Rising sea level Influencing plant life Image:

Influencing plant life Image & info: Plants in the mountain regions of Europe are stressed to move to the higher altitudes. A study on the unique flora plants that grow in Mediterranean sites, found that, an increasing number of these plants are now found only on mountains of northern and central Europe where it is cooler and rainfall is more available. A lack of rainfall, plant life and dry soil is becoming more apparent in the lower areas of these mountains.

Shrinking mountain glaciers Image: Info: Almost half of Europe's Alpine glaciers has disappeared since 1850, with many left over predicted to disappear by the end of this century. Tropical glaciers in Africa have decreased in area by 70% on average since the early 1900s. Greenland alone contains 12% of the world's ice; entire portions of the Greenland ice sheet appear to be sliding towards the sea.

Rising sea level Image: Info: Scientific research indicates sea levels worldwide have been rising at a rate of 3.5 millimetres per year since the early 1990s. Predictions say the warming of the planet will continue and with oceans likely to rise. A recent study says we can expect the oceans to rise between 1 and 2 meters by 2100.

How does climate change work? Human activities like driving cars, farming, burning coal and cutting down forests produce greenhouse gases that gather in the atmosphere, wrap around the earth and trap the sun's heat. Extra heat is kept in the air by ‘greenhouse gases’ produced from human activity. Some heat is naturally kept in by gases in the air like water vapour. Less heat is able to be released into space. Some sunlight is bounced back into space. Diagram and info: Scientists believe greenhouse gases are making the climate hotter and according to scientists, the planet has so much greenhouse gases today then it has ever had, and this will continue to rise.

Affecting the natural climate balance is likely to bring about more extreme events such as flooding, storms, cyclones, droughts and landslips. Why is climate change important? Over the past 100 years, human activity has contributed to greenhouse gases that have affected the natural climate balance. Climate change is important because we are affecting the natural climate, which can influence natural disasters, which can have an impact on us all. Image: Diagram and info:

Let’s reflect on what we have learnt so far… As we have seen, climate change affects us all and we influence climate change

What have we learnt so today? Climate change  Is about changes happening to our planet and to our plant life, mountain glaciers and sea levels.  Is caused by greenhouse gases trapped in our atmosphere. These gases are caused by driving cars, burning coal and cutting down forests.  Is important because it will have an impact on us all. Image:

We hope you enjoyed learning about climate change. In the next lesson Changing climate we will learn about the impacts climate change can have on us all and what we can do to help lessen greenhouse gases.

Changing Climate End of lesson Image: