Global Climate Change Nature Sunday Academy 2013-14  

What is Global Climate Change? Change in Earth’s climate that lasts for an extended period of time (decades, centuries, millennia ) Due to natural processes and human activities that change the atmosphere When due to natural processes, it is usually referred to as global climate variability

Climate vs. Weather Climate Weather Average weather conditions over an extended period of time like 30 years Ex. January is the coldest month in ND with avg temps from 2-17oF Weather Day-to-day conditions of a particular place Temp, precipitation, wind Ex. It was snowing yesterday but today is sunny.

Climate Variability

Activity One: Graphing Temperature

Graphing Temperature Change

What causes Earth’s climate to change? Changes in the atmosphere Natural processes Volcanoes Tectonic plate movement Changes in the sun Human activities – any activity that releases “greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere

Earth’s Atmosphere Earth’s atmosphere is a very thin layer that wraps the planet Made of gases: 78%N, 21% O, 0.93%Ar, and trace amounts of Ne, He, H2, CO2, CH4 Acts like a blanket to prevent heat from escaping back into space Greenhouse Effect

Without the greenhouse effect earth would be 59F colder

What are greenhouse gases? Gases that have a capacity to absorb and emit heat Can you name some greenhouse gases? CO2, CH4, H2O, O3, NOx

Activity 1-Graphing CO2, CH4, and CO Using Excel, you will be making a graph of the levels of these three gases. Do you think there is a correlation between any of these gases and the change in temperature? Write a hypothesis for the relationship between each of these gases and temperature.

Graph of Some Atmospheric Gases

Myth Busters on Gases and their effect on temperature Myth Busters on Greenhouse gases

Where does it come from and where does it go? Activity 2 Carbon dioxide Sinks and sources Where does it come from and where does it go?

CO2 Source vs. Sink Source is a process or activity that releases Carbon dioxide into the environment. A sink is a reservoir that takes up a carbon dioxide from another part of its natural cycle. 

Human-Produced Greenhouse Gas Levels

Activity Three: Ice Cores

Review What are the sources of CO2? Combustion, respiration, and decomposition What are the sinks for CO2? The ocean and other large bodies of water and photosynthesis

What Next? We know some of the sources of CO2. Which are natural? Which ones are man made? How can we reduce our carbon footprint?