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4.L.1 Understand the effects of environmental changes, adaptations, and behaviors that enable animals (including humans) to survive in changing habitats

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Macro: Changes, Cause and Effect, Civil Participation, Environment

Micro: Characteristics, Behaviors, Migration, Survival, Natural Resources

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Students will understand...
1. How humans play a significant role in Climate Change.
2. Why climate change is a world wide issue but impacts different parts of the world in different ways.
3. How changes to the Earth's environment affect all living forms including humans, animals, and plants.
4. How population growth contributes to a higher consumption of natural resources.
5. How civil participation at local and global levels helps to promote positive change.

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Factual: 1. What is climate change?
2. What are causes and effects of climate change?
3. How has climate change affected North Carolina?

Conceptual: 1. How do humans play a role in climate change?
2. How does overconsumption of natural resources affect humans, animals, and plants?

Provocative: 1. What does it mean to be responsible for something?
2. Who is responsible for protecting Earth's environment?

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4.G.1 Understand how human, environmental, and technological factors affect the growth and development of North Carolina

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Macro: Change, Cause and Effect, Civil Participation, Environment

Micro: Transportation, Population, Communication, Development, Natural Resources

# data[].attributes.body
Students will understand...
1. How humans play a significant role in climate change.
2. Why climate change is a world wide issue but impacts different parts of the world in different ways.
3. How changes to Earth's environment affects living forms including humans, animals, and plants.
4.  How population growth contributes to a higher consumption of natural resources.
5.  How civil participation at local and global levels promote positive change.

# data[].attributes.body
Factual: 1. What is climate change?
2. What are causes and effects of climate change?
3. How has climate change affected North Carolina?

Conceptual: 1. How do human play a role in climate change?
2. How does overconsumption of natural resources affect humans, plants, and animals live?

Provocative: 1. What does it mean to be responsible for something?
2. Who is responsible for protecting Earth's environment?

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Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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Home - Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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Vital Signs of the Planet: Global Climate Change and Global Warming. Current news and data streams about global warming and climate change from NASA.

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Climate Kids is produced by the Earth Science Communications Team at

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Animals Species Affected By Climate Change 

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Animals Species Affected By Climate Change 

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Climate change has become an everyday term as more people become aware of it. But have you thought about what this phenomenon means in reality? Changes in temperature might not seem extensive, but we are already seeing dramatic results in many areas:
In practice, climate change affects animal species in the following ways:

Climate patterns change and animals have to adapt accordingly.

Animals experience habitat loss due to increased greenhouse emissions.

Animals have to alter their breeding and feeding patterns in order to survive.

If these animal species can't migrate to more favourable climatic areas, their fate might be sealed. Learn more about six animal species, and how they are affected by climate change.

1) Cheetahs

The African cheetah is the world's fastest animal but is racing against its against near-threatened status in the face of climate change. In some areas, the cheetahs' prey populations are declining, and as a result, the cheetahs have had to change their diets.

A rise in temperatures has affected this big cat's ability to reproduce. Male cheetahs have shown lowered testosterone levels and a sperm count almost ten times lower than your house cat.

A rapid decline in free-ranging cheetahs means resources are being used to study and preserve these master survivors in managed parks. For example, GVI volunteers gather data in Karongwe.

Help to conserve this big cat as part of GVI's Cheetah conservation and research project in South Africa.

2) Giant panda bears

This iconic bear and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) trademark feeds exclusively on bamboo, but unfortunately, climate change is causing a major wipe-out of bamboo in their natural habitat in China. Apart from being the bears' staple diet, bamboo also provides them with shelter from the elements.

3) Green turtles

Green turtles are very sensitive to changes in temperatures.

A baby turtle's gender depends on the temperature of the sand where the eggs are laid . The warmer areas produce female turtles. With climate change causing an increase in temperatures, more females than males will hatch.

You can support the protection of this endangered species by joining GVI's endangered turtle conservation and research program in , or you can travel to to be part of conserving hawksbills, leatherbacks, and green sea turtles.

4) Asian elephants

These gentle giants are particularly sensitive to high temperatures. In order to survive, they need to drink a great amount of fresh water daily.

Climate changes and global warming makes it more difficult for elephants to get the water they need. Warmer temperatures also create favorable conditions for invasive plants to thrive and outmatch the elephants' regular food sources.

You can join GVI to conserve Asian elephants as a volunteer in .

5) Polar bears

Climate change and global warming result in less Arctic sea ice for the bears to hunt seals on. This reduces their access to food sources and threatens their habitat and overall survival.

6) Adélie penguins

These birds live in the Antarctic and feed on krill (found under the ice sheets).

As the ice melts, krill populations decrease and the penguins have to migrate from their natural habitat in an attempt to find alternative food sources. This influences their breeding patterns negatively.
GVI is an international award-winning volunteer organisation that contributes to robust scientific research. You can join us on various wildlife and marine conservation projects and internships in locations around the world.

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Six animal species and how they are affected by climate change | GVI USA

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Climate change has become an everyday term as more people become aware of it. But have you thought about what this phenomenon means in reality? Changes in temperature might not seem extensive, but we are already seeing dramatic results in many areas: In practice, climate change affects animal species in the following ways: Climate patterns change and animals have to adapt accordingly.

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Watch Crash Course Kids: Climate Change on Epic

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Watch Crash Course Kids: Climate Change on Epic

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Instantly access Crash Course Kids: Climate Change plus over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids.

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How Children Are Impacted By Climate Change 

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How Children Are Impacted By Climate Change 

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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

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instant access to thousands of great kids books.

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Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

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The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

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instant access to thousands of great kids books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

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Greta Thunberg Is TIME's 2019 Person of the Year

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The climate activist has succeeded in turning vague anxieties about the planet into a worldwide movement calling for global change

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Begin lesson by displaying political cartoon:

Have students discuss with partners:

"What is the cartoon exaggerating in the picture?"

"What do you think the cartoon symbolizes?"

"What is the irony?"

Briefly discuss as a class

"We have been talking a lot about climate change and its effects on the environment. From what you have learned so far, why is protecting the environment important to you?"

"What are some ways people may be able to live "environmentally friendly"'

Play video

http://robgreenfield.tv/TheTeenyGreeny/

The Teeny Greeny is the off the grid, urban, tiny house adventure of Rob Greenfield.

It is a voice and example for those who wish to simplify their life and learn to tread lightly on the earth while leaving a positive impact on humanity.

It is an extreme example for sure but with the hopes to inspire you to make small changes in your life, one step, one day at a time.

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Begin lesson by displaying political cartoon: Have students discuss with partners: "What is the cartoon exaggerating in the picture?" "What do you think the cartoon symbolizes?" "What is the irony?" Briefly discuss as a class "We have been talking a lot about climate change and its effects on the environment.

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Population Education: Earth Day Resources 

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Population Education: Earth Day Resources 

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Resource Overview

Packet of Earth Day lesson plans for K - 5th grades. Free to download!

The 2020 Earth Day theme is "climate action." This lesson packet includes call-outs for climate connections, making it easy for you to provide climate action opportunities for your elementary students.
Don't teach elementary? Check out our Earth Day resource packets for Middle Grades and High School.

Features of This Resource

Engages elementary students with important questions like: How can we take action against climate change? How can we be sustainable even as our population grows?

Two lesson plans include direct climate action opportunities for elementary students

Fun and interactive lessons will make a memorable Earth Day

Included Lesson Plans and Readings

The following are include in the downloadable packet:

Lesson Plans

- Students estimate and verify the amount of green space necessary to meet the oxygen needs of the entire class and... Read more "

- In a role-playing simulation, students act as species in a habitat trying to survive by collecting cards that represent all... Read more "

- Students create handprint art and write an action they will take to protect the environment. Students will be able to:... Read more "

- By weighing and recording their lunch waste every day for a week, students learn how conservation efforts can reduce the... Read more "

- Through an interactive story, students learn how, as human populations have increased, many of our rivers have become polluted. Students... Read more "

Readings

- An elementary-level reading that addresses renewable and non-renewable resources.

How Do I Get This Lesson Packet?

The resource is free. Click the green button for immediate download. Download Now

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Earth Day Resources for Elementary Grades - Population Education

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Packet of Earth Day lesson plans for K - 5th grades. Free to download! The 2020 Earth Day theme is "climate action." This lesson packet includes call-outs for climate connections, making it easy for you to provide climate action opportunities for your elementary students. Don't teach elementary?

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Climate scientists around the world know about the mechanisms that cause climate change and they agree that it is an indisputable reality. Regardless, there is a great deal of climate change scepticism, partly produced to suit political interests. The climate sceptics deny human-caused climate change. In science, climate scepticism is rare, and most actively publishing climate scientists hold the position that climate change has been caused by human action. Out of 11,944 scientific articles on climate change published between the years 1991-2011, only 78 denied the role of human impact.

Because climate change is a complex phenomenon, predicting its future is difficult, as it tends to be in all sciences covering large-scale phenomena. Data on climate change is above all about establishing average rates of changes in the climate system. Climate data reveals the probability of hurricanes increasing in certain areas at a certain rate, but it does not explain why they appear at any given moment.

The chief results of climate science may be summed up as follows: the climate is getting warmer and the warming is mainly human-caused. The consequences are not fully known, but it is possible to estimate a specific likelihood for different scenarios. For decades, it has been estimated that the consequences will be long-term, more or less notable, likely unwanted and possibly disastrous.

Also, social scientists can be climate change experts. Human-caused climate change is, after all, about the relationships among individuals within society, and that is of particular interest in the social sciences. Social science may, for instance, take a look at the preconditions for climate change adaptation in different countries or impacts of political decisions on greenhouse gas emissions and people's lives. Before making climate-related decisions, politicians should rely on scientific data about the potential societal consequences. To produce this data we need social scientists.

Estimating the desirability of the consequences is not a scientific and objective fact, but rather about values, ethics and practices. However, it can be argued rationally and logically. As ethics experts, philosophers can help us to identify values and ideas about our visions of an ideal world.

Epistemological views can be helpful when discussing climate change and philosophy: What is knowledge? What is scientific knowledge? What is philosophical knowledge? How does knowledge differ from belief, wish or wisdom?

4. Climate Change and Democratic Decision-Making

Democracy has historically been a successful method to deal with difficult challenges, but climate change differs from these earlier challenges in many ways. Negotiating binding and ambitious limits on global greenhouse gas emissions at international climate conferences is extremely challenging, and often effective climate change mitigation at the national level conflicts with decision-makers' interests.

Regardless, collective and democratic decision-making about climate change can make sense. When we are not sure what really matters in the end and disagree sensibly, the best way to make decisions is a process that takes into account all the sensible views expressed and guarantees that they all are fairly evaluated according to the rationale they provide.

Justification of democracy does not only depend on the outcome. Rightly constituted, democracy can and will make prudent and sustainable decisions. It is also crucial that all the parties are committed to decisions made together. Democracy entails constitutionalism and fundamental rights, which aim to guarantee protection for future generations against the severe climate change threat.

Can democracy help to mitigate climate change disasters or would enlightened despotism be preferable? Why do citizens participate in decisions about climate change if they are too ignorant and too prone to cognitive biases and errors? Shouldn't these decisions be left to the experts?

Democratic decision-making guarantees rights for citizens today, but is there any guarantee that future citizens' rights will be respected?

What type of citizen participation is there? What are the key approaches to successful democratic decision-making? What are the ideal roles of experts and citizens in decision-making?

6. Climate Change as a Moral and Ethical Issue

Climate change raises many questions that have moral and ethical dimensions. Moral questions can be divided into two branches: justice and value. Global justice and distribution of responsibilities have been hot topics lately in the climate debate. However, climate change mitigation is fundamentally motivated by our approach towards wellbeing and preservation of human lives.

Are living human beings more valuable than the unborn? Is it wrong if people decide not to have children in order not to increase a burden on the planet and accelerate climate change? Is death always a bad thing? What is the value of saving lives? What are the sacrifices we need to make to guarantee a good life for future generations?

The world population can be divided into three more or less same-sized groups: globally well off, struggling but surviving, poor and vulnerable. The globally well off cause most of the greenhouse gas emissions as a side effect of their lifestyles. However, the poor suffer from climate change most. In other words, climate change increases the global inequality even further. This division does not respect geographical boundaries or a global North-South divide. Advantages and disadvantages of climate change are divided unequally, although to a certain extent, we all cause greenhouse gas emissions and suffer from climate change. Can it be said in the context of climate change that some are hurting others?

Justice can be examined through its relation to its opposite, an injustice. If an individual or institution commits tortious acts, according to moral reasoning, this is wrong and should be stopped immediately. However, climate change has many such features that seem to water down traditional ideas of moral responsibility and liability.

For instance, our usual idea about moral responsibility and duty to compensate is based on a scenario when someone intentionally causes damage to another. For instance, if John steals Jane's bicycle and breaks it, it is clear that John is responsible for damage and should pay for it. Because he took Jane's bike on purpose, what he did was wrong and illegal, so he deserves moral disapproval and a legal punishment.

However, in the case of climate change, the situation is not that simple. Its complex web of causal connections could rather look like this: John's flight to a holiday destination combined with the behaviour patterns of many other people around the world creates a group of cause-and-effect relations. They increase the risk that Jane and many others, including future generations, on the other side of the world will suffer from rice losses during harvesting. What are John's responsibilities to Jane and the others? Did he hurt Jane? Is John responsible for compensating Jane's harvest loss? Is it right to disapprove him? Should John feel guilty?

In addition, there is a pervasive, widespread idea that overcoming poverty is possible only by producing more greenhouse gas emissions. If that holds true, are the developing countries free and eligible to rise from poverty despite increasing emissions? If not, why, and how can you morally justify it?

Kortetmäki, Teea, Arto Laitinen & Mikko Yrjönsuuri (2013). Ajatuksia ilmastoetiikasta (s. 4-20.).
https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/41848/Ajatuksia%20ilmastoetiikasta.pdf?sequence

Lahikainen, Lauri (2013). Ilmastonmuutos yhteiskuntafilosofian ongelmana. s. 21-34. https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/41848/Ajatuksia%20ilmastoetiikasta.pdf?sequence

Hardin, Garret (1968). Yhteislaidunten tragedia. http://netn.fi/sites/www.netn.fi/files/hardin-yhteisladunten_tragedia-NETTI.pdf

Soininvaara, Osmo. Ilmastopolitiikka (2) Yhteismaan ongelma. http://www.soininvaara.fi/2013/11/14/ilmastopolitiikka-2-yhteismaan-ongelma/

Oksanen, Noponen, Lemetti & Kyllönen (toim.). Kiista yhteismaista. Garrett Hardin ja selviytymisen politiikka. niin & näin (2011)

Kyllönen, Simo (2013). Ilmastokysymys ja demokraattinen päätöksenteko (s. 35-62) https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/41848/Ajatuksia%20ilmastoetiikasta.pdf?sequence

Hormio, Säde (2013). Osallisuusvastuu ilmastonmuutoksesta (s. 103-119). https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/41848/Ajatuksia%20ilmastoetiikasta.pdf?sequence
Kyllönen, Simo. Miks mun pitäis? Osallisuus velvoittaa ilmastotalkoisiin.
https://etiikka.fi/miks-mun-pitais-osallisuus-velvoittaa-ilmastotalkoisiin/

Eskelinen, Teppo (2013). Oikeudenmukaisuus ja vahingonteko ilmastokontekstissa (s. 84-102) https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/41848/Ajatuksia%20ilmastoetiikasta.pdf?sequence
Kyllönen, Simo. Ilmastonmuutos on suuri eettinen haaste. http://blogs.helsinki.fi/climate-ethics/fi/ilmastonmuutos-on-suuri-eettinen-haaste/
Miten paha on, jos ilmastonmuutos vie ihmiseltä elämän? http://www.hs.fi/ulkomaat/a1416025142509

Lakkala, Keijo. Öljyn kokemus. http://www.commons.fi/oljyn-kokemus

Antti Salminen & Tere Vadén: Energia ja kokemus. niin & näin -kirjat 2013.

Tere Vadén (2011). Loppulama - määritelmä ja seurauksia. http://netn.fi/sites/www.netn.fi/files/loppulama-kesae2011.pdf

Tere Vadén (2009). EROEI-fantasia eli kysymyksiä tulevaisuuden filosofeille. http://netn.fi/sites/www.netn.fi/files/netn094-10.pdf

World Forum on Enterprise & the Environment, Oxford 2010
World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment Oxford, UK Oxford Union 27-29 June 2010 The 2nd annual World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment explored the theme of'Low Carbon Mobility: Land, Sea and Air', outlined a vision of sustainable mobility for our world in 2050 and explored the key challenges and critical milestones which are likely along the way. The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment invited 150 participants including global leaders and thinkers from the private sector, government, civil society and academe to dialogue, challenge and collaborate on the question - Is the rapid transition to Low Carbon transportation systems a realistic goal and how does it fit with the broader challenge of sustainable mobility? The Value Web was proud to be invited back to the WFEE for a second year. Our participation involved graphic facilitation for key note speakers and pecha kucha presentations. We also co-facilitated and provided graphics support to the workshops focused on the future of mobility for land, sea and air. The 2010 conference was held in the historic Debating Chamber of The Oxford Union, University of Oxford.

IPCC climate change report gets European launch
IPCC Photo / David Plas The UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for disaster risk reduction, Margareta Wahlström, has urged governments to commit resources to building national disaster loss data bases so they can better target spending on infrastructure to avoid recurring losses and damages. Read more: www.unisdr.org/archive/26719 This photo can be used free of charge, only if mentioning "Copyright: © Belspo / Nevens". For more details, please contact Yves Nevens (info@nevens.be)

Le Parlement finlandais (Helsinki)
Le Parlement (Eduskuntatalo) ou palais de la Diète nationale a été conçu par l'architecte Johan Sigfrid Sirén (27 mai 1889, Ylihärmä - 5 mars 1961, Helsinki) et inauguré en 1931. L'Eduskuntatalo est dessiné selon le style classique des années 1920. L'extérieur est construit à partir du granit de Kalvola, aux teintes rouges. La façade est décorée de quatorze colonnes dotées de motifs corinthiens. À l'intérieur, le bâtiment compte cinq étages tous différents les uns des autres. Ils sont connectés par des escaliers de marbre blanc et des ascenseurs. Extrait de l'Article de Wikipedia fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Sigfrid_Sir%C3%A9n

Airplane
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Kallio Block Party
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General Photos: Tonga
Child plays in the flooded area of Popua Village. Popua Village is located on the outskirts of Nuku'alofa, Tonga. Tonga's small and open economy is vulnerable to external shocks and was hard hit by the global financial crisis. Development challenges include high levels of debt, limited employment opportunities, and low private sector investment levels. Read more on: Tonga Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Environment Social Development and Poverty

Petrochemical Landscape 1 - 12/16/08
Fog/high humidity adds a lot of drama to scenes like this. I'm lucky in getting a clean image from the ship channel. The side that faces the road has all the power/utility wires that detract from a photo. LARGE

These images can be reused under CC licence. Add any required credit for the photographer or company who own the copyright of the photo you use. See copyright information and original photos in Flickr gallery.

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Climate Change and Philosophy Climate change is an interdisciplinary issue and its causes, consequences and solutions form a web that consists of many different perspectives from the natural to social sciences, humanities, ethics, technology and arts. Therefore, climate change is a horn of plenty for philosophical reflection.

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Climate Change Lesson Plans and Resources 

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Climate Change Lesson Plans and Resources 

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Lindsay Carron's artwork lies at the crossroads of indigenous voice and environmental activism. She travels to remote areas of the planet to document wild lands and human relationship to them.

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Climate Change Lesson Plans and Resources

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Lindsay Carron's artwork lies at the crossroads of indigenous voice and environmental activism. She travels to remote areas of the planet to document wild lands and human relationship to them.

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Through this interactive story, students learn how, as population has increased, many of our rivers have become polluted. Water is one of our most important natural resources to help maintain the exists of all life forms. Following the activity, students will be put into small groups and given the task of developing a way to clean the water. Each group will have a chance to demonstrate their idea. This experience ties into the proactive questions aligned with the unit. This experience also ties into the conceptual understanding of how changes to Earth's environment all living forms.

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In this experience students will embark on a virtual field trip to different continents. Students will observe the changes they see due to climate change. Another option or this would be that each student is assigned to two states in the US. They are to investigate the ways that climate change most impacts them. This experience helps students in the conceptual understanding that climate change is a worldwide issue but different continents, regions, states, etc. are impacted differently.

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This experience will tie into conceptual understanding how humans play a role in climate change and the ways in which we play a negative and positive role. Students will go on a "Litter Walk" around the school grounds. Students will tally the number of different types of materials (plastic, rubber, paper, etc.) It is important to pick a place where litter can be safely removed if that is a required element. Work will be done as a class to total the number of materials we found. Students will research what materials in the community can be recycled. A classroom recycle bin will used each day in class for recyclable materials. This experience will help to instill a sense of personal responsibility and hope for making a difference.

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Throughout the unit, students will learn that deforestation is a driving force in climate change. Trees help to rid the air of carbon-dioxide and release oxygen. Trees also provide a natural habitats for hundreds of creatures. As a class, we will research which types of trees grow best in North Carolina. We survey school grounds for a safe spot to plant our tree (or start a school garden). Students will answer the question, "How and why does population growth contribute to deforestation?" This experience could also lead into another unit of life cycles of plants, learning about different types of soils, rocks, minerals, etc.

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In this experience, students will now have knowledge about the role that humans play in climate change. Students will work in groups to develop a policy for how we can slow the affects of climate change. Students will use the compass points thinking routine. Students will present their plan to the "panel of judges."

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national aeronautics and space administration

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Global Ice Viewer - Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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Ice, which covers 10 percent of Earth's surface, is disappearing rapidly. Select a topic below to see how climate change has affected glaciers, sea ice, and continental ice sheets worldwide.

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Human activity has had an effect on the environment for thousands of years, from the time of our very earliest ancestors. Since Homo sapiens first walked the earth, we have been modifying the environment around us through agriculture, travel and eventually through urbanization and commercial networks. At this point in earth's physical history, our impact on the environment is so substantial that scientists believe "pristine nature," or ecosystems untouched by human intervention, no longer exist. ¹

In ways both positive and negative-and likely in more ways than you'd even think-human civilization and technology have affected our earth, altering our planet forever. Consider these five tangible impacts our species has had on the environment, and whether you're one who will advance their effects or intercede to halt them.

1. The Population Bomb

Human overpopulation has been affecting the environment for hundreds of years and a concern for scientists since at least 1798, when Thomas Malthus first published his finding that, without significant and ongoing technological innovation, the human population would almost certainly outstrip the planet's food supply. In 1968, this concern was again raised in Stanford professor R. Paul Ehrlich's book "The Population Bomb." ²

Accommodating population growth has been a root cause for much of the impact we've had on our environment. Since Malthus first noted his grave concerns, technological advances have created a new double-edged sword: health and abundance. Our food supply today can support more lives than ever, and advances in medical science have led to increasingly longer lifespans. But this reality has the profound side effect of reducing population turnover and leading to its rapid expansion. So as our quality of life and life expectancy improve, the challenges wrought by overpopulation accelerate as well. ³

2. Agriculture, Domesticated Animals and Genetic Modification

The demand to feed a growing human population has facilitated notable advances in agriculture, which was the first major human innovation to enable our survival as a species. Early agriculture allowed hunter-gatherer cultures to settle an area and cultivate their own food. This immediately impacted the environment by transplanting non-native species to new areas, and by prioritizing the cultivation of certain plants and animals over others. And more recently, advances in genetic modification have raised concerns about the environmental impact of newly developed crops. ⁴

In particular, the domestication of livestock and other species, including dogs and cats, by early humans affected the environment by altering the land in significant ways. Grazing animals contributed to environmental change by depleting native grasses and contributing to soil erosion. And we now know that the rapid expansion of cattle populations to meet human dietary demands has contributed substantially to changes in the composition of gases within the atmosphere. ⁵

The industrialization of agriculture in the last several centuries has exacerbated these effects, but it has also prompted a subsequent wave of counter-movements, which seek to undo the negative effects of human intervention. People today are increasingly aware of the impact vast factory farms have on the environment, and seek to return to smaller farms and even urban gardens. As "eating local" rises in popularity, urban land is being reclaimed for traditional agriculture and the environment is once again altered due to human labor. ⁶

3. Deforestation...and Reforestation

Growing populations have to be housed, which means they seek more space to build homes and cities. This often involves clearing forests to make room for urban and suburban development, as well as to provide building materials. Currently, it is estimated that 18 million acres of trees are clear-cut every year to create space for development and to be used in wood products. ⁷

Deforestation has many effects, including decreasing oxygen levels (and increasing greenhouse gases), elevated risk of soil erosion and the destruction of animal habitats. But as is the case with industrial agriculture, some groups have endeavored to create a positive counter-impact to deforestation's detrimental effects on the environment. Reforestation efforts seek to replace as much forest land as possible every year, and it is currently estimated that about 40 percent of the trees removed each year are being replaced. ⁸

4. Pollution

Human activities affect the environment by contributing to air pollution, or the emission of harmful substances into the air. While it can be difficult to understand which pollutants are associated with specific effects on the environment or public health, it is generally accepted that air pollution can indeed cause public health problems and also harm plant and animal life. ⁹

Pollution isn't just limited to the air. It can affect soil or waterways and can come from human waste, industrial chemicals and other sources. These toxins can exert tremendous effects on the natural world, leading to environmental degradation and problems like acid rain and harmful algal blooms in the ocean.

Environmental protection laws on the local and federal level have been enacted as a means to stem the ecological damage caused by pollution, and some communities have engaged in ongoing conversations aimed toward promoting sustainable, low-impact living.

5. Global Warming and Climate Change

Among the most critically impactful ways that humans have affected the environment is our extraction and consumption of fossil fuels and their attendant CO2 emissions. Recent studies indicate that CO2 emissions contribute to the deterioration of the earth's ozone layer, which may, in turn, contribute to global climate change; this is especially true when emissions are combined with the loss of the carbon-sink effect of forest lands (due to deforestation) and existing particulate matter in the air. ¹⁰ Though the scale and impact of such climate change are up for debate, the scientific community has reached a consensus that human activity does have some degree of impact on the global climate.

Human Impact on the Environment is a Double-edged Sword

The expansion of human population and the requirements of our growing human family place strenuous demands on our environment. Through human intervention, we have altered our ecosystem forever. However, though some of these changes may be negative, humans also have the power to correct our mistakes and change our environment for the better.

Discover how you can contribute to a thriving future for our planet. Explore the online Master of Geographic Information Science from Kent State University, and find your opportunity to work toward the renewal of the earth's ecosystem, from its forest grounds to its water resources and farmlands.

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Learn how everyday human activity is affecting the environment. And how we can correct our past mistakes and make the environment a better place. More here.

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Global warming refers only to the Earth's rising surface temperature, while climate change includes warming and the "side effects" of warming-like melting glaciers, heavier rainstorms, or more frequent drought. Said another way, global warming is one symptom of the much larger problem of human-caused climate change.

Another distinction between global warming and climate change is that when scientists or public leaders talk about global warming these days, they almost always mean human-caused warming-warming due to the rapid increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from people burning coal, oil, and gas.

Climate change, on the other hand, can mean human-caused changes or natural ones, such as ice ages. Besides burning fossil fuels, humans can cause climate changes by emitting aerosol pollution-the tiny particles that reflect sunlight and cool the climate- into the atmosphere, or by transforming the Earth's landscape, for instance, from carbon-storing forests to farmland.

A climate change unlike any other

The planet has experienced climate change before: the Earth's average temperature has fluctuated throughout the planet's 4.54 billion-year history. The planet has experienced long cold periods ("ice ages") and warm periods ("interglacials") on 100,000-year cycles for at least the last million years.

Previous warming episodes were triggered by small increases in how much sunlight reached Earth's surface and then amplified by large releases of carbon dioxide from the oceans as they warmed (like the fizz escaping from a warm soda).

Today's global warming is overwhelmingly due to the increase in heat-trapping gases that humans are adding to the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. In fact, over the last five decades, natural factors (solar forcing and volcanoes) would actually have led to a slight cooling of Earth's surface temperature.

Global warming is also different from past warming in its rate. The current increase in global average temperature appears to be occurring much faster than at any point since modern civilization and agriculture developed in the past 11,000 years or so-and probably faster than any interglacial warm periods over the last million years.

New understanding required new terms

Regardless of whether you say that climate change is all the side effects of global warming, or that global warming is one symptom of human-caused climate change, you're essentially talking about the same basic phenomenon: the build up of excess heat energy in the Earth system. So why do we have two ways of describing what is basically the same thing?

According to historian Spencer Weart, the use of more than one term to describe different aspects of the same phenomenon tracks the progress of scientists' understanding of the problem.

As far back as the late 1800s, scientists were hypothesizing that industrialization, driven by the burning of fossil fuels for energy, had the potential to modify the climate. For many decades, though, they weren't sure whether cooling (due to reflection of sunlight from pollution) or warming (due to greenhouse gases) would dominate.

By the mid-1970s, however, more and more evidence suggested warming would dominate and that it would be unlike any previous, naturally triggered warming episode. The phrase "global warming" emerged to describe that scientific consensus.

But over subsequent decades, scientists became more aware that global warming was not the only impact of excess heat absorbed by greenhouse gases. Other changes-sea level rise, intensification of the water cycle, stress on plants and animals-were likely to be far more important to our daily lives and economies. By the 1990s, scientists increasingly used "human-caused climate change" to describe the challenge facing the planet.

The bottom line

Today's global warming is an unprecedented type of climate change, and it is driving a cascade of side effects in our climate system. It's these side effects, such as changes in sea level along heavily populated coastlines and the worldwide retreat of mountain glaciers that millions of people depend on for drinking water and agriculture, that are likely to have a much greater impact on society than temperature change alone.

References

Broecker, W. S. (1975). Climatic Change: Are We on the Brink of a Pronounced Global Warming? Science, 189(4201), 460-463. http://doi.org/10.1126/science.189.4201.460

Climate Data Primer. Climate.gov.

Gillett, N. P., V. K. Arora, G. M. Flato, J. F. Scinocca, and K. von Salzen, 2012: Improved constraints on 21st-century warming derived using 160 years of temperature observations. Geophysical Research Letters, 39, 5, doi:10.1029/2011GL050226. [Available online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2011GL050226/pdf]

Global Warming FAQ. Climate.gov.

How do we know the world has warmed? by J. J. Kennedy, P. W. Thorne, T. C. Peterson, R. A. Ruedy, P. A. Stott, D. E. Parker, S. A. Good, H. A. Titchner, and K. M. Willett, 2010: [in " State of the Climate in 2009"]. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 91 (7), S79-106.

Huber, M., and R. Knutti, 2012: Anthropogenic and natural warming inferred from changes in Earth's energy balance. Nature Geoscience, 5, 31-36, doi:10.1038/ngeo1327. [Available online at http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v5/n1/pdf/ngeo1327.pdf]

Jouzel, J., et al. 2007. EPICA Dome C Ice Core 800KYr Deuterium Data and Temperature Estimates. IGBP PAGES/World Data Center for Paleoclimatology Data Contribution Series # 2007-091. NOAA/NCDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder CO, USA.

Mann, M. E., Zhang, Z., Hughes, M. K., Bradley, R. S., Miller, S. K., Rutherford, S., & Ni, F., 2008: Proxy-based reconstructions of hemispheric and global surface temperature variations over the past two millennia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(36), 13252-13257. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0805721105.

Melillo, Jerry M., Terese (T.C.) Richmond, and Gary W. Yohe, Eds., 2014: Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment. U.S. Global Change Research Program, 841 pp. doi:10.7930/J0Z31WJ2. Online at: nca2014.globalchange.gov

National Academy of Sciences, Climate Research Board, Carbon Dioxide and Climate: A Scientific Assessment (Jules Charney, Chair). (1979). Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences. [Online (pdf)] http://web.atmos.ucla.edu/~brianpm/download/charney_report.pdf

Walsh, J., D. Wuebbles, K. Hayhoe, J. Kossin, K. Kunkel, G. Stephens, P. Thorne, R. Vose, M. Wehner, J. Willis, D. Anderson, V. Kharin, T. Knutson, F. Landerer, T. Lenton, J. Kennedy, and R. Somerville, 2014: Appendix 4: Frequently Asked Questions. Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment, J. M. Melillo, Terese (T.C.) Richmond, and G. W. Yohe, Eds., U.S. Global Change Research Program, 790-820. doi:10.7930/J0G15XS3

Weart, S. (2008). Timeline (Milestones). In The Discovery of Global Warming. [Online] American Institute of Physics website.

What's in a Name? Global Warming vs. Climate Change. NASA.

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What's the difference between global warming and climate change? | NOAA Climate.gov

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Global warming refers only to the Earth's rising surface temperature, while climate change includes warming and the "side effects" of warming-like melting glaciers, heavier rainstorms, or more frequent drought. Said another way, global warming is one symptom of the much larger problem of human-caused climate change.

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Develop legislation environmental impact
to regulate the
exploitation of natural,
resources and establish

assessment as an
essential requirement
for entire projects

Encourage the use
of public transport
and bicycles

Foster a culture of
recycling: reduce,
reuse and recycle

Promote environmental
education in schools

Promote
agriculture and
ecological tourism

Use water and electricity responsibly

Buy fewer unnecessary products

Avoid non-biodegradable products

Choose to buy local or organic products

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What are the consequences of the overexploitation of natural resources?

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Natural resources are those that the planet offers without the need for human intervention. They are essential our survival, but if they are consumed at a faster rate than their natural regeneration, as is currently the case, they can be exhausted. Then, we review the consequences and possible solutions to this problem.

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You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See

This page contains a series of factsheets which provide an overview of climate impacts by U.S. state and territory.

As our climate changes, every state will become warmer. Aside from rising temperatures, the impacts of climate change are likely to be very different from state to state. Increased rainfall intensity will cause more flooding in some states, while increasingly severe droughts may threaten water supplies in other states. Farms and forests will be less productive in some states, but warmer temperatures may extend growing seasons in others. To learn more about the likely impacts of climate change where you live, click on your state or territory below.
EPA's About PDF page to learn more.

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You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See This page contains a series of factsheets which provide an overview of climate impacts by U.S. state and territory. As our climate changes, every state will become warmer.

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Changing Climate, Changing Cities: Virtual Field Trip from Phoenix to Shenzhen

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It’s so hot in Phoenix, Arizona, some residents have baked cookies in their cars. By the end of August, the desert city had recorded 50 days this year of temperatures exceeding 110 degrees, scorching the previous record of 33 days in 2011. Phoenix isn’t the only city experiencing the tangible effects of a changing climate. Urban centers around the world are feeling the heat. Shenzhen, China, for example, is facing historic flooding that is linked to climate change. Worldwide, still more cities are vulnerable to stronger hurricanes or to the effects of drought and other natural forces—all coming at us more frequently and with more fury. Climate change is happening, and it’s happening all around us. 


Get a a front-row, ground-level seat to the challenges cities face as they confront this force of nature, the solutions experts are promoting to mitigate it, and the hands-on role students can play today as the next generation of environmental stewards.

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National Geographic Education Resource Library 

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National Geographic Education Resource Library 

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Resource Library | National Geographic Society

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National Geographic Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization. © 1996 - 2020 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. Privacy Notice | Sustainability Policy | Terms of Service | Code of Ethics

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Deforestation- A Factor in Climate Change

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Deforestation- A Factor in Climate Change

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Deforestation is when forests are destroyed by cutting trees ( logging) and not replanting them. The most common reason is to clear the land to make farms, ranches, and cities. Trees are also cut for firewood and lumber.

Deforestation destroys the habitat of many animals, leading to their death and possible extinction. The loss is more severe in primary forests, which are forests that have yet been untouched by humans. Deforestation also releases sequestered carbon.

Restoring trees in deforested places is called reforesting.

Benefit of forests

Forests are often planted to protect against natural disasters. They also help the water cycle function properly. When forests are lost, very often the soil they protected is also lost. This loss of soil is called erosion.

Trees are also important for carbon sequestration. They are important in keeping the proper balance of oxygen (O ₂) and carbon dioxide (CO ₂) on earth. They take in carbon dioxide that humans exhale (breathe out) and release oxygen that humans inhale (breathe in).

Forests have the following functions:

regulating the water cycle

producing soil

preventing soil erosion

providing habitat for animals

providing most of our oxygen

maintaining the proper oxygen (O₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels

balancing the atmosphere

regulating the temperature

Global deforestation suddenly increased around 1852. As of 1947, the planet had 5.8 million to 6.2 million sq. mi. (15 million to 16 million km ²) of mature tropical forests (forested landscapes in tropical regions), but by 2015, it was estimated that about half of these had been destroyed. Total land coverage by tropical rainforests decreased from 14% to 6%. Much of this loss happened between 1960 and 1990. Scientists have calculated that at this rate, the extinction of such forests could happen by the mid-21st century.

Causes of deforestation

Land has other uses besides growing trees. The biggest uses of land that was once forested are for farming and ranching. Some land is also used for roads and buildings, especially in urban areas. As the population grows, people need to remove more trees. They also use the wood from the trees as lumber to make buildings and other things, or they burn the trees as firewood.

Environmental effects

Atmospheric

Further information: Deforestation and climate change

Deforestation is ongoing and is shaping climate and geography.

When the trees burn or rot, the small amount of carbon that is not absorbed by the soil can return to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. Scientists believe that since carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, deforestation can cause global warming. They have estimated that tropical deforestation is responsible for about 20% of world greenhouse gas emissions.

Hydrological

The water cycle is also affected by deforestation. Trees play an important part in the proper working of the water cycle.

Their canopies catch precipitation, which is then evaporated back to the atmosphere (canopy interception). Without canopy interception, the air would be drier and less precipitation would fall.

Their litter (plant material on the ground around the tree), stems, and trunks slow down surface runoff. Without these, flash flooding would be more likely.

Their roots create macropores - large pipe-like trails - in the soil that increase infiltration of water. Without these trails, water would not flow through the soil as easily.

They absorb groundwater from the soil and transpire moisture into the atmosphere. Without transpiration, the air would be drier and trees would not get the moisture they need because of the lack of precipitation.

Tropical rainforests produce about 30% of our planet's fresh water.

Deforestation changes normal weather patterns, creating hotter and drier weather. This results in more drought, crop failures, melting of polar ice caps, and coastal flooding.

Undisturbed forests do not have much erosion because of plant litter on the ground. Plant litter protects from surface runoff. Forestry operations also increase erosion because of the roads and mechanical equipment they use.

Deforestation in China's Loess Plateau many years ago led to soil erosion. This erosion caused valleys to open. The increase of soil in the runoff causes the Yellow River to flood and makes it yellow-colored.

Erosion is not always a consequence of deforestation. An example would be the southwestern regions of the United States. The loss of grass due to the presence of trees and other shrubbery leads to more erosion than when trees are removed.

Soils are reinforced by the presence of trees, which secure the soil by binding their roots to soil bedrock. When trees are removed on sloped lands, those lands are more likely to have a landslide.

Biodiversity

Forests support biodiversity, providing a habitat for wildlife. Forests also produce medicinal plants. Tropical rainforests are the most diverse ecosystems on Earth and about 80% of the world's known biodiversity could be found in tropical rainforests. When humans remove or destroy large areas of forest cover, the soil degrades and biodiversity is lessened. Some species of plants and animals can become extinct. Some scientists predict that more than 40% of the animal and plant species in Southeast Asia could be wiped out in the 21st century. Other scientists show data that disagree with this prediction.

Health effects

Public health context

Some scientists believe that deforestation exposes people to zoonotic diseases (diseases that can be passed from an animal to a human). Dieseases that are associated with the forest include malaria, Chagas disease (also known as American trypanosomiasis), African trypanosomiasis ( sleeping sickness), leishmaniasis, the Nipah virus, Avian flu, Swine Flu, Lyme disease, HIV, and Ebola.

General overview

According to the World Economic Forum, 31% of emerging diseases are linked to deforestation. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 75% of emerging diseases in humans came from animals.

In 2016, the United Nations Environment Programme published the UNEP Frontiers 2016 Report. The report shows the causes of emerging diseases:

The latest appearing diseases and their causes are listed on page 23 of the report:

Economic impact

According to the World Economic Forum, half of the global GDP depends on nature. For every dollar spent on nature restoration, there is a profit of at least 9 dollars.

People in both developed and developing countries use wood for building, wood for fuel, and wood pulp for paper. In developing countries, almost three billion people rely on wood for heating and cooking. The economy does well in the short term when trees are cut to make products, but usually, not enough trees can be planted in their place in time for more to be cut down again when they are needed. This causes the economy in the long term to suffer.

Illegal logging causes billions of dollars of losses to national economies each year. The European Union is one of the largest importers of products made from illegal deforestation.

Many countries have taken steps to control deforestation. They have begun programs that they hope will help with the problem.

Reducing emissions: The United Nations and the World Bank have begun to develop programs to reduce deforestation. Because trees take in carbon dioxide, the more trees we have, the less CO₂ will be emitted into the air. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is a program that offers money or other incentives (good consequences as a result of an action) to developing countries if they use different ways to build than using the forest's trees.

Government and private policies: In the government area, laws could be made to protect forests, making it illegal to cut trees down without special permission. Private companies could promise to use the land they own the best way they can and to buy products only from companies that do not use deforestation. The Paris Agreement is an example of this.

Land rights: Another way to conserve forests is to change the right to use the land from the public domain to the indigenous inhabitants.

Farming practices: New ways to farm are being developed to get more use out of a single piece of land rather than having to use many pieces of land for different purposes. For instance, in cyclic agriculture, cattle are grazed on farmland that is resting and rejuvenating. The cattle help the land prepare for future plantings by dropping nutrients (from their feces) into the soil.

Monitoring deforestation: Satellite images can help scientists know where on the earth they need to concentrate their efforts in fighting deforestation.

Forest management: Planning ahead by planting more trees than we think will be necessary for future generations is one way to manage our forests well. Reforestation in areas where trees have been cut is another way to manage our forests well. In the areas where "slash-and-burn" is practiced, switching to "slash-and-char" would make the soil rich and healthy for future trees.

Sustainable practices: Bamboo grows and is ready for use faster than trees. Using bamboo rather than wood for building and making products would reduce the need to cut down trees.

Forest plantations: Some places have forest plantations, which are large plots of land that have trees planted on them in an orderly way. They produce more healthy trees per acre than a natural forest.

Interesting facts about deforestation

More than half the world's tropical forests have been destroyed since the 1960s.

In 2019, the world lost an entire soccer field worth of primary rainforest every six seconds.

Forests release carbon dioxide when they are cleared or burned. About 12 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation.

It is estimated that within 100 years, there will be no rainforests.

20% of the world's oxygen is produced in the Amazon forest.

Almost half of the world's timber and up to 70% of paper is consumed by Europe, the United States, and Japan alone.

Worldwide, more than 1.6 billion people rely on forest products for all or part of their livelihoods.

Related pages

Images for kids

In Spanish: Deforestación para niños

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How Each Continent is Impacted Differently 

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How Each Continent is Impacted Differently 

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The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scary new release includes a ton of details describing the impacts that climate change will have on the Earth.

The report details some of the key risks that climate change poses to every part of the world in the charts below.

To read these charts, use the legend below, which describes the climate factors driving these risks. The orange bar indicates how bad the problem is going to be, and if anything can be done to mitigate it in the short or long term:

North America - Heat, wildfires, and floods.

Europe - Economic losses from flooding, extreme heat events, and water scarcity.

Africa - Stress on water resources, reduced crop productivity, and spreading diseases.

Central and South America - Decreased food production and water scarcity.

Asia - Flooding, drought, and deadly heat waves.

Australasia - Destruction of coral reefs and flooding.

Polar Regions - Ecosystem destruction and extreme weather.

The world's oceans - Changes in fisheries, reduced biodiversity, and habitat loss.

Small islands - Destruction of low level coastal areas.

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Here Are The Biggest Climate Change Risks For Each Continent

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The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scary new release includes a ton of details describing the impacts that climate change will have on the Earth. The report details some of the key risks that climate change poses to every part of the world in the charts below.

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Global Warming The Future - Full Documentary 2019 HD

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Climate Change: WE are the Problem and Solution

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Climate Change: WE are the Problem and Solution

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Climate Change - We are the PROBLEM & the SOLUTION (Animated Infographic)

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Causes and Effects of Climate Change | National Geographic

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By National Geographic Kids associate editor Allyson Shaw. Adapted and republished from the April 2018 Save the Earth issue with permission.

Climate Reality is teaming up with National Geographic Kids to share resources for kids to learn about climate change - and for parents and teachers to teach kids how to take action! This is the first blog in the series, but be sure to check back for more!

FIRST, GET SMART!

We know you love watching videos on your phone. But modern activities - such as plugging in devices, driving cars, and cooling homes - rely on energy sources such as natural gas, oil, and coal. Those energy sources release a gas called carbon dioxide (CO ₂) into the atmosphere. When CO 2 and other greenhouse gases trap heat that would otherwise escape Earth's atmosphere, the planet's temperature rises. That's called global warming, which causes climate change.

Climate: The average pattern of weather conditions over a long period of time. Climate isn't weather- weather changes daily.

Global warming: The increase in Earth's average temperature over a long period of time.

Carbon dioxide: A gas released by the burning of coal, natural gas, oil, and wood that traps heat in the atmosphere.

Carbon footprint: The amount of carbon dioxide one human releases into the environment in a year.

Fossil fuels: Coal, oil, and natural gas, which come from the breakdown of ancient plants and animals over millions of years.

Click to enlarge. Image courtesy of National Geographic Kids magazine.

RISING TEMPERATURES

According to NASA, the Earth's average surface temperature has increased about 1.8°F over the past hundred years, making 2017 one of the hottest years ever recorded. Most scientists expect the climate to at least warm another 0.5°F to as much as 8.6°F by 2100.

What's the big deal about a little extra heat? According to most scientists, plenty. As glaciers and polar ice sheets melt, rising sea levels could threaten coastal areas. And this global warming causes other changes to the Earth's climate, including harsher droughts, stronger hurricanes, and shifting wind and ocean patterns. Together, these changes are known as climate change.

WHY THE WARM UP?

So what do scientists say is causing climate change? Earth is surrounded by an atmosphere made up of a layer of gases. When sunlight enters the atmosphere, some of the sun's heat is trapped by the gases, while the rest escapes the atmosphere. The trapped heat keeps Earth warm enough to live on.

But during the past few centuries, the oil, gas, and coal we use have released carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This gas traps heat that would otherwise escape Earth's atmosphere. This increases Earth's average temperature, which changes its climate. Climate change seems like an overwhelming problem, but you can make a difference.

SO WHAT CAN KIDS DO?

Click to enlarge. Image courtesy of National Geographic Kids magazine.

There are plenty of ways kids can take action to fight climate change. Check out the awesome graphic above to get some ideas on how you can take action to save the Earth!

You can also check out National Geographic Kids for videos, games, and more ideas about how to get involved and learn more about our planet.

WHAT CAN PARENTS AND TEACHERS DO?

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Just for Kids: What's Climate Change? And What Can I Do?

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Our planet is an amazing place to live... but it needs your help.

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Climate Change Kids Images, Stock Photos & Vectors | Shutterstock

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Find climate change kids stock images in HD and millions of other royalty-free stock photos, illustrations and vectors in the Shutterstock collection. Thousands of new, high-quality pictures added every day.

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Teaching about Climate Change with Project Based Learning

Teaching about Climate Change with Project Based Learning

The project to end all projects

One way to think about the climate crisis is as the project to end all projects-a massive, collaborative, interdisciplinary endeavor with an authentic, incredibly high-stakes outcome: the future of our planet.

This project requires every single person on Earth to deepen our knowledge and build our skills, and demands that we work together in unprecedented ways.

How can we as educators support the student movement?

We often talk about Project Based Learning as a pedagogy that equips students for the future. However, our youth are fighting right now to ensure that they have a future. Through movements like Sunrise and the Youth Climate Strikes, young people around the world recognize the urgency of the crisis we're in, and are leading the charge to transform our economic, social, and political systems in time to save the planet.

So how can we help our students adapt to the realities of an already changing climate while also empowering them to stop climate change from getting worse? One way to take action within our own spheres of influence is to design projects that teach core content and skills in the context of authentic climate action.
Go to blog post

Here are 6 project ideas about our changing climate...

Looking for more inspiration?

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Teaching about Climate Change with Project Based Learning

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Teaching about Climate Change with Project Based Learning Teaching about Climate Change with Project Based Learning One way to think about the climate crisis is as the project to end all projects-a massive, collaborative, interdisciplinary endeavor with an authentic, incredibly high-stakes outcome: the future of our planet.