Author: Zach
Temperature Scales
{ Climate Change Contents } { All GSS Books } Celsius (or centigrade) is the temperature scale used by scientists, while Fahrenheit is the scale used by most nonscientists in the United States. Since this book is about global systems science, we have used the Celsius scale throughout. However, it is very easy to convert […]
CC4.2. A Look at the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Project
{ Climate Change Contents } { All GSS Books } Analyze the article below, by Professor Richard Muller of University of California Berkeley, in terms of the question posed on the Worksheet for this Investigation. You may do this one of several ways: print out the worksheet and write on it, or create your own equivalent worksheet […]
CC4.1. How has the debate changed over decades?
{ Climate Change Contents } { All GSS Books } The first point Jim Hansen made to Congress back in 1988 was, “the globe is heating up.” Let’s look closely at the scientific process in action by examining how the debate around this question has changed since then. Has the scientific community come to consensus […]
CC4. What Is Global Warming?
Chapter 4 { Climate Change Contents } The worldwide drought of 1988, accompanied by tremendous forest fires, floods, and a super hurricane, caught people’s attention. It was in the midst of that hot summer that James Hansen, a reputable NASA scientist, testified before Congress that he was “99% confident” the globe was heating up. Later, […]
CC3. The Composition of Earth’s Atmosphere
Chapter 3 { Climate Change Contents } Ninety percent of the gases that make up our atmosphere are in the troposphere—the lowest and densest part of the atmosphere which extends 10–12 kilometers above the surface. The stratosphere, which extends up to about 60 kilometers, contains most of the rest of the atmospheric gases. While the […]
CC2.3. Why Do Some Molecules Absorb Infrared Energy?
{ Climate Change Contents } { All GSS Books } Carbon dioxide gas allows visible light to pass through but will absorb infrared energy. Why is that? The answer involves a concept called resonance. If you are pushing a child on a swing, in order to get the child to swing as high as possible, you […]
CC2.1. Two Prisms
{ Climate Change Contents } { All GSS Books } If you can borrow two prisms, you might try splitting a beam of light into its different colors, then combining the light again into a single beam—just as Isaac Newton did more than 300 years ago. Use the Sun or an electric light bulb for […]
CC2. What’s So Special About Carbon Dioxide?
Chapter 2 { Climate Change Contents } How does carbon dioxide trap heat? In short, the atmosphere allows the Sun’s visible light energy to pass through it unhindered and heat the ground. When the warmed land masses and seas cool, they radiate their energy back toward space in the form of infrared rays. Carbon dioxide […]
CC1.1. Light in the Atmosphere
{ Climate Change Contents } { All GSS Books } In this model (game), half the students act as photons and half as molecules. The model can be done either as a board game with students working in groups and moving pieces across a board, or as a whole class model where each student acts […]
CC1. What Is the Greenhouse Effect?
Chapter 1 { Climate Change Contents } Life on Earth would be impossible without the atmosphere. It contains oxygen and other gases essential for plants and animals. The atmosphere protects us from the Sun’s harmful rays and acts like a blanket to keep our planet at a livable temperature. There is, however, some disturbing evidence […]