Assignment: Climate Change Paper

(Note: This lab contains PDF files and you need Adobe Reader to see them. If you don’t have Adobe Reader already on your computer, go the Reference Links icon on the homepage and click on the Adobe Reader icon BEFORE starting this lab.)

Purpose: To study the causes and effects or climate change and the debate among scientists surrounding the issue.

Introduction:

(Note: This lab is quite different from the preceding labs in that rather than a step-by-step procedure followed by parallel questions at the end of the lab, you will be asked to read material from several sources and then answer several essay questions.)

Climate change is currently perhaps the most widely debated scientific topic in all of Earth science because it has the potential to affect each and every one of us living on the planet. Certainly, the hurricanes and earthquakes of the past several years disrupted the lives of millions of people, but they are but a small percentage of the total world population. The debate, as you see from your readings, is two-fold: 1) Is global warming a continuing reality or is it just a short-term climate change, and 2) are human activities responsible for global warming/ climate change and thus can it be controlled by altering those activities?

If you use Google, or some other search engine, to find references for climate change, you will get well over 500,000 “hits”, or websites related to it. You must remember that just because information is on the internet, it is not necessarily factual. I have referred you to 4 websites below on which I would like you to read material, but you are welcome to pursue other websites or print sources for information as long as they show up in your bibliography.

Procedure:

In order to answer the essay questions, you need information from two (minimum) of the sites, so it would help to take some notes as you read.

1) Go to the NPR (National Public Radio) site at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1893089&sourceCode=gaw and read the three short views on global warming/ climate change. There are links in the right margin near the top if you want more information on any of the three men.

2) Go to the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) site at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/globalwarming/home.html and read the information presented. The first page is an introduction; after reading it click on “The Story” right below the main title. When the new screen loads, click on and read each of the three subtopics. At the bottom of the third topic there is a link to the next section called “The Data”; click on it and when that page loads, click and read the three subtopics. At the end of the last subtopic there is a link to “Final Word”; click on it and read this screen.

3) Go to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) site at http://epa.gov/climatechange/index.html . From this screen click and read: Science, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Health and Environmental Effects (you may want to read some of the other topics also.)

4) Go to any other sites regarding climate change / global warming—several are listed below, but you can use Google​ to find many more. If you are going to use information from other sites, be sure to get the URL for your bibliography.

http://www.koshlandsciencemuseum.org/exhibitgcc/index.jsp

http://www.co2science.org/scripts/CO2ScienceB2C/Index.jsp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level_rise (Do Not use Wikipedia as a primary source nor should you quote from it.)

http://www.marshall.org/subcategory.php?id=9

http://www.gcrio.org/ipcc/qa/index.htm

5) Write your lab report as essay answers to the questions below. You do NOT have to include a procedure section on this lab report, but if you directly copy a statement, it should be in quotes and referenced. The answers should be a minimum of 2 paragraphs each—longer is better.

Questions:

1) Is climate change a short-term or long-term effect? (Support your answer.)

2) What are the main pieces of evidence for climate change?

3) What are some possible results if climate change is a long-term effect?

4) What are some possible “cures” for climate change

5) Put all sources that you read in a “bibliography” list. Assignment: Climate Change Paper