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Why is the world warming up? | Kristen Bell + Giant Ant

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Why is 1.5 degrees such a big deal? | Kristen Bell + Giant Ant

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What is net-zero? | Kristen Bell + Giant Ant

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Where does all the carbon we release go?

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Where does all the carbon we release go?

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Where does all the carbon we release go? | Kristen Bell + Giant Ant

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Bloomberg | 2015

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The Science Behind Climate Change, Explained in 2 Minutes

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Global Weirding | Katherine Hayhoe | 2018

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Ted-Ed | 2021

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National Geographic | 2015

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Climate Change 101 with Bill Nye | National Geographic

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Storm surge and wave devastation at Mexico Beach, Fla.

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Red Alert!: Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledg

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Red Alert!: Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledg

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Dr. Daniel Wildcat | 2009

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Red Alert!: Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge (Speaker's Corner)

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Red Alert!: Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge (Speaker's Corner) [Wildcat, Daniel R] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Red Alert!: Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge (Speaker's Corner)

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< Back to All Games

SUMMARY

Adopt a bear and help save the world's habitats!

Synopsis

Habitat the Game is designed to educate players about the effects that climate change will have on different species around the world while also encouraging players to examine how their own behaviors and ecological footprint will impact the planet.

In the game, players adopt a polar bear and must keep the bear alive and healthy by completing virtual tasks - like washing, grooming and feeding the bear. Additionally, players are challenged to complete real-world 'missions' such as turning-off lights, conserving water, recycling, taking public transportation and other 'speedy missions' that decrease the player's ecological footprint. The game further challenges players to make these actions a part of their daily routine, by awarding more rewards and a bonus mini-game to players who successfully complete 5-day missions. By completing these virtual tasks and real-world missions, players will progress through levels, increasing the health of their bear and earning badges of recognition for their efforts. Ultimately the goal is to save the world by improving the bear's health.

Habitat also encourages players to get out into nature and collect virtual 'Habitat Pins', which function like trading cards and can be shared and traded with friends, family and other players (currently there are more than 100 Pins in over a dozen countries around the world). The pins add a co-op aspect to the gameplay and also encourage players to continue interacting with the game, nurturing their bear and living a ecologically-minded lifestyle. For more information on the game, including curricular materials, videos and more, visit Habitat's Digital Chalkie

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Back to All Games Adopt a bear and help save the world's habitats! Habitat the Game is designed to educate players about the effects that climate change will have on different species around the world while also encouraging players to examine how their own behaviors and ecological footprint will impact the planet.

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Climate change: Earth's giant game of Tetris - Joss Fong

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Generation Green: The Ultimate Teen Guide to Living an Eco-Friendly Life

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Generation Green: The Ultimate Teen Guide to Living an Eco-Friendly Life

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Book by Linda Sivertsen and Tosh Sivertsen | Amazon

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Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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Carbon dioxide (CO ₂) is an important heat-trapping gas, also known as a greenhouse gas, that comes from the extraction and burning of fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, and natural gas), from wildfires, and natural processes like volcanic eruptions. The first graph shows atmospheric CO ₂ levels measured by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, since 1958. The second graph shows CO ₂ levels during Earth's last three glacial cycles, as captured by air bubbles trapped in ice sheets and glaciers.

Since the onset of industrial times in the 18th century, human activities have raised atmospheric CO ₂ by 50% - meaning the amount of CO ₂ is now 150% of its value in 1750. This human-induced rise is greater than the natural increase observed at the end of the last ice age 20,000 years ago.

The animated map shows how the historical changes in global carbon dioxide over time. Note the colors change as the amount of CO ₂ rises from 365 parts per million (ppm) in 2002 to over 420 ppm currently. It's important to understand that "parts per million" refers to the number of carbon dioxide molecules per million molecules of dry air. These measurements are from the mid-troposphere, the layer of Earth's atmosphere that is 8 to 12 kilometers (about 5 to 7 miles) above the ground. This data provides insights into the significant rise in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, highlighting the impact of human activities on Earth's climate.

CO₂ Through the Seasons

A closer look at the carbon dioxide measurements at Mauna Loa shows a series of wiggles in the data. Although total CO ₂ is increasing each year, there is also a short-term cycle visible within the larger trend.

This annual rise and fall of CO ₂ levels is caused by seasonal cycles in photosynthesis on a massive scale. In Northern Hemisphere spring, plants come to life and draw in CO ₂ to fuel their growth. This begins the process of lowering the amount of CO ₂ in the atmosphere. In northern autumn, plant growth stops or slows down, and the whole process reverses itself. Much of the plant matter decomposes, releasing CO ₂ back to the atmosphere.

A similar but less intense pattern repeats in the Southern Hemisphere in opposite seasons. Spring growth starts in September and winter decomposition begins in March, so CO ₂ records in the Southern Hemisphere show the opposite pattern of that seen in Mauna Loa. However, because there is a lot more land and vegetation in the Northern Hemisphere than the southern, the global seasonal cycle more closely aligns with the northern pattern.

See the cycle in action in the visualization Watching Earth Breathe: The Seasonal Vegetation Cycle and Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide.

This boom-and-bust cycle of plant growth gives the graph of CO ₂ a sawtooth pattern of ups and downs from year to year. At a larger scale, the upward climb of the trend line over the decades is caused by CO ₂ emissions, primarily from burning fossil fuels. Thus, the data illustrate both natural factors and human additions of CO ₂.

Learn more:

NASA's Climate Kids: Why is Carbon Important?

Missions That Observe CO₂
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-3)

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Carbon Dioxide Concentration | NASA Global Climate Change

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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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Blue Planet II Official Trailer 2 | BBC Earth

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Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

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How many Americans want an electric home?

International Public Opinion on Climate Change, 2023

Who supports climate justice in the U.S.?

Which Republicans are worried about global warming?

What do Americans think is the biggest threat from global warming?

How many Americans want an electric home?

International Public Opinion on Climate Change, 2023

Who supports climate justice in the U.S.?

Which Republicans are worried about global warming?

What do Americans think is the biggest threat from global warming?

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The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

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Public opinion polls on climate change knowledge, attitudes, policies, and behavior.

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< Back to All Games

SUMMARY

A game about ice flow in the Antarctic

Synopsis

Scientists and games developers have joined forces to help communicate the impact of climate change on the Antarctic Ice Sheet in the game Ice Flows. The game tasks players with controlling the size of the ice sheet in order to get penguins to their desired destination. The climate changes whether that's decreasing snowfall or increasing ocean temperatures, make it harder (or easier) for the penguins to catch fish, high-five birds and thrive in their environment. By engaging the player with the environmental controls on the ice sheet, the player learns how ice sheets grow and shrink.

Ice Flows is funded as part of a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) project led by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The project aims to investigate what may happen in the near-future in the Weddell Sea region of Antarctica and the impact changes here could have on global sea-level.

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Back to All Games A game about ice flow in the Antarctic Scientists and games developers have joined forces to help communicate the impact of climate change on the Antarctic Ice Sheet in the game Ice Flows. The game tasks players with controlling the size of the ice sheet in order to get penguins to their desired destination.

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Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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The rate of change since the mid-20th century is unprecedented over millennia.

Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 800,000 years, there have been eight cycles of ice ages and warmer periods, with the end of the last ice age about 11,700 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era - and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth's orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives.

This graph, based on the comparison of atmospheric samples contained in ice cores and more recent direct measurements, provides evidence that atmospheric CO2 has increased since the Industrial Revolution. (Credit: Luthi, D., et al.. 2008; Etheridge, D.M., et al. 2010; Vostok ice core data/J.R. Petit et al.; NOAA Mauna Loa CO2 record.) Find out more about ice cores (external site).

The current warming trend is different because it is clearly the result of human activities since the mid-1800s, and is proceeding at a rate not seen over many recent millennia. It is undeniable that human activities have produced the atmospheric gases that have trapped more of the Sun's energy in the Earth system. This extra energy has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land, and widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere have occurred.

Do scientists agree on climate change?

Yes, the vast majority of actively publishing climate scientists - 97 percent - agree that humans are causing global warming and climate change.

detailed answer

Earth-orbiting satellites and new technologies have helped scientists see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate all over the world. These data, collected over many years, reveal the signs and patterns of a changing climate.

Scientists demonstrated the heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases in the mid-19th century. Many of the science instruments NASA uses to study our climate focus on how these gases affect the movement of infrared radiation through the atmosphere. From the measured impacts of increases in these gases, there is no question that increased greenhouse gas levels warm Earth in response.

"Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal."

- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers show that Earth's climate responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels. Ancient evidence can also be found in tree rings, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks. This ancient, or paleoclimate, evidence reveals that current warming is occurring roughly 10 times faster than the average rate of warming after an ice age. Carbon dioxide from human activities is increasing about 250 times faster than it did from natural sources after the last Ice Age.

References

References
Header image shows clouds imitating mountains as the sun sets after midnight as seen from Denali's backcountry Unit 13 on June 14, 2019. Credit: NPS/Emily Mesner

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Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?

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Vital Signs of the Planet: Global Climate Change and Global Warming. How do we know it's happening? Here's the evidence.

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The club was supposed to meet once a week. But for many of the members of Men in Color, Wednesday afternoons turned into Monday afternoons and Thursdays too.

"After school, we were always in Mr. C's room," says Jaheim Birch-Gentles, a recent graduate of the High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn. He's referring to one of the club's advisors, Mischaël Cetoute. The club served as a safe space for students to talk through issues and ideas.

Those afternoon meetings gave rise to the Flossy Podcast, where the students tackle big social issues mixed in with their lived experiences.

Their episode about climate change and environmental racism is one of this year's grand-prize winners in the NPR Student Podcast Challenge. It was created by Jaheim and fellow club members Joshua Bovell, Brianna Johnson, Jamar Thompson, Kamari Murdock, Isaiah Dupuy, with theme music produced by club member Ieszan McKinney.

The episode begins with the idea that, "climate change Is racial injustice," and focuses on the idea that pollution and the environment impact communities differently - even within Brooklyn.

"For people growing up in Canarsie, we don't really realize we're living in these areas," says Joshua Bovell in the podcast. "But then you go somewhere else, like Mill Basin, and you're like, 'Why is this so different than where I live?' "

They visited a Climate Change March in Manhattan, where they saw mostly white people demonstrating. And in their podcast they wonder, aloud, Why?

They discuss the obvious barriers: Time. Location. Education. And then they bring in their own experiences, with climate events they've experienced, such as hurricanes, and the fact that their school sits near a landfill.

Environmental racism, explains Birch-Gentles in an interview, is "something that we can actually see and taste." He points to the situation with the school's drinking fountains: "People would drink from the water fountain and afterward they really wouldn't feel good," he says. It turns out, the school had lead in its pipes. Lead is actually a common problem in schools, especially in Brooklyn's aging buildings, where about 80 percent of public schools had a faucet or fixture leaching lead, according to a 2017 report.

The students cited in their reporting research that shows climate change, including rising temperatures in cities and poor air quality, disproportionately affects non-white neighborhoods. Black communities face dangerously high levels of pollution and are more likely to live near landfills and industrial plants that pollute water and air and erode quality of life, according to a 2018 report from the Environmental Protection Agency.

For co-host Jamar Thompson, the topic is not only urgent and relevant, it's also related to what's happening now with protests and Black Lives Matter. "Racism is like a tree," he says, "and police brutality and environmental racism are just a couple of branches off that giant tree."

Young people's voices often get left out of these conversations, says Thompson, and adults need to do a lot more listening.

"They feel as though, because we are young, we don't know what we're talking about when we speak about certain things. And I feel like that isn't true," he adds. " I don't speak about things I don't know about."

When he does know something, Thompson says, or when he sees something that isn't right, he speaks up about it. That's his message for young people especially now.

The Flossy Podcast wouldn't have been possible if the club hadn't decided to build a recording studio at the school, with help from several adults. It took about two years, a big grant, and lots of hard work.

When the students pitched the idea, "I was like, 'OK, let's make that happen,' " recalls Cetoute, a restorative justice coordinator from the Center for Court Innovation who helped oversee the club. "I promise you that it was the most frustrating process in the world. But when they finally get that support, they win something. And that completely changes, for the rest of their life I think, how much they will believe in the power of their voice."

Being OK with the way they sounded was a journey, says Birch-Gentles. "When I heard how everybody else hears me, it was completely different from what I hear."

But with each episode, he says, his confidence grew. "It forced me to get comfortable because this is how I sound and it's not changing."

He ended up writing his college essay about the experience.

When he first started podcasting, "I just viewed myself as a kid from the neighborhood of Canarsie, and I'm speaking about what I've seen and my experiences."

Birch-Gentles didn't think of himself as an activist then, and even now, he resists the term.

Jamar Thompson agrees. He sees himself in much simpler terms: "I'm a person who spoke his truth and I spoke about what I felt. That's kind of more of what I am."

Truth tellers. Sharing their experiences and their opinions and inspiring other young people to do the same.

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'Climate Change Is Racial Injustice': Students Speak Their Truth In Winning Podcast

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The club was supposed to meet once a week. But for many of the members of Men in Color, Wednesday afternoons turned into Monday afternoons and Thursdays too. "After school, we were always in Mr. C's room," says Jaheim Birch-Gentles, a recent graduate of the High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn.

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Climate Science in a Nutshell #4: Too Much Carbon Dioxide

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Understanding Climate Change: Grades 7-12

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Understanding Climate Change: Grades 7-12

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by Laura Tucker and Lois Sherwood | Amazon

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Live 24/7 CO₂ emissions of electricity consumption

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Electricity Maps is a live 24/7 visualization of where your electricity comes from and how much CO2 was emitted to produce it.

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Before the Flood Official Trailer #1 (2016) Leonardo DiCaprio Documentary Movie HD

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INTERESTED IN getTING involved for the first time?

Looking to take action right now?

Ready to organize your community?

Green New Deal for Schools

The Green New Deal for Schools will radically transform our school system to face the climate crisis and make sure all students have the right to a safe and good education - no matter their zip code or the color of their skin.

Read more: Green New Deal for Schools

Green New Deal for Communities

It's time for a Green New Deal for our communities. Door by door, neighborhood by neighborhood, we will take over our cities and towns to put everyday people in charge and win the homes we deserve.

Read more: Green New Deal for Communities

Black and Latiné Constituencies

We need a Green New Deal that invests in our communities - that repairs the harm that's been done through centuries of pollution, extraction, and slavery.

Read more: Black and Latiné Constituencies

CLOSE

We know it might take days or even weeks for every ballot to be counted. Trump is already openly refusing to leave office even if he loses. And even if Joe Biden is declared the winner, we need to make it clear from Day 1 that we won't back down until he makes the Green New Deal the law of the land.
The day after the election, our movement will come together to take stock, regroup and chart our course ahead. Sign up to join our call Wednesday 11/4 from 9-10pm ET / 6-7pm PT. Join Our Mass Call

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We are the climate revolution. We believe everyone should have access to clear air and water, full pantries of food, affordable housing, free public transportation, good and meaningful jobs, vibrant community centers, and lives filled with joy.

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Legends of Learning | Math & Science Games For Teachers & Students

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Coolaustralia.org |

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A new generation has pushed the climate crisis to the center of American politics. Generation Green New Deal tells the story of this youth movement: who they are, what they've accomplished so far, and where they go from here. Hosted by filmmaker Sam Eilertsen.

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Generation Green New Deal | Criticalfrequency

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A new generation has pushed the climate crisis to the center of American politics. Generation Green New Deal tells the story of this youth movement: who they are, what they've accomplished so far, and where they go from here. Hosted by filmmaker Sam Eilertsen.

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Popular Science | 2018

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Our House Is on Fire: Greta Thunberg's Call to Save the Planet

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Our House Is on Fire: Greta Thunberg's Call to Save the Planet

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by Jeanette Winter | Amazon

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Main menu
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25 Million high schoolers educated about the climate emergency and the possible solutions

We educate students nationwide through our award-winning resource, Our Climate Our Future.

Visit Our Climate Our Future

100+ Million people across the U.S. engaged through ACE Campaigns

We give young people the tools, training and resources they need to take action.

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800,000+ youth advocates taking action in ACE's Youth Action Network in all 50 states

We are building the largest community of high-school-aged climate advocates in the country.

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Educating high school students about climate change and empowering them to lead on climate solutions.

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Check out the latest news on ACE's blog.

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Calling everyone who believes a future is worth fighting for. Together, we're bringing youth climate action to center stage. Join our movement.

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ACE educates, inspires and supports young people to lead the fight for their future. We ensure they have everything they need to understand the science and advocate for solutions to the climate emergency.

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Legends of Learning | Math & Science Games For Teachers & Students

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We are grade 10 students bringing you information and creating awareness on climate change.

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BellMuseum | 2010

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Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines

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Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines

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Paul Fleischman | 2014
Amazon

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World Bank

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See the Climate challenge in the Earth Day Ecochallenge Event

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Climate change is likely the greatest challenge humans have ever faced. Our changing climate is negatively impacting our freshwater, oceans, forests, wildlife, food supply, and human health. Human activity is causing climate change, but human activity can also solve climate change.

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In this series of games, your students will learn about the causes and effects of climate change, and what can be done to reduce both. The Global Climate Change learning objective - based on NGSS and state standards - delivers improved student engagement and academic performance in your classroom, as demonstrated by research.

Scroll down for a preview of this learning objective's games and the concepts they drive home.

Concepts Covered

Over the past 130 years, the Earth's average surface temperature has been rising, a phenomenon known as "global warming." Global warming is caused by the greenhouse effect, which has become more intense with rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO ₂), methane (CH ₄), and water vapor - or "greenhouse gases" - in the atmosphere.

These greenhouse gases are produced by different sources:

* CO ₂ emissions come from burning fossil fuels, manufacturing, and agriculture.
* Methane is produced by landfills, as well as agricultural activities like cow farming.
* Water vapor levels increase as temperatures rise and water is evaporated into our atmosphere.

Even a small amount of climate change - just 1-2℃ - has widespread effects across the planet's ecosystems. Ocean levels rise because seawater expands as it warms and ice caps and glaciers melt. More extreme weather events happen, and summers and winters become more intense. Disasters like droughts and floods happen more often, and habitats are destroyed, leading to extinction of species.

Along with human activity, there are some natural causes of climate change, like changes in the Earth's orbit, solar radiation from sunspot cycles, and volcanic activity. However, the climate change of the past 130 years is too dramatic to be explained by these factors.

Humans can make everyday changes to minimize the problem of climate change. We can reduce, reuse, and recycle in order to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, and we can use alternative, clean energy sources like solar, wind, water, and nuclear power.

In total, there are eight games in this learning objective, including:

Oscar's World - Climate Change

Greenman and the Global Climate Change

Preventative Measures

Warm Planet Adventure

Escape!: Global Climate Change

Results of Global Climate Change

Guess the Energy

Bottles: Global Climate Change

A further preview of each game is below.

You can try the games within the learning objective for free on the Legends of Learning site with an account.

Sign up for $100 worth of games with no obligations or commitments.

Tags: climate change, global warming, coal, gas, alternative energy, power plant, deforestation, carbon dioxide, greenhouse effect, atmosphere, resources, ozone, temperature, emissions

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Global Climate Change Science Games - Legends of Learning

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In this series of games, your students will learn about the causes and effects of climate change, and what can be done to reduce both. The Global Climate Change learning objective - based on NGSS and state standards - delivers improved student engagement and academic performance in your classroom, as demonstrated by research.

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Vox | 2019

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Our world is getting warmer. This we know.

Just look at Alaska, which experienced all-time record heat in July, topping out at 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Dozens of other cities are in the throes of a heat wave this week, which forecasters have warned will be "prolonged, dangerous, and potentially deadly."

But how much will temperatures in US cities change by 2050? By then, scientists say average global warming since preindustrial levels could be about twice what it is in 2018 - and much more obvious and disruptive. It's a world you'll (probably) be living in. And it's the one we're definitely handing off to the next generation.
Here's how much the winters and summers in the city closest to you are predicted to change about 30 years from now. (More on our methodology here.)

Winters and summers will be warmer in every city by 2050. Type in other cities to see for yourself:

Our analysis, first published in October 2018, shows that in almost every case, the places we live are going to be strikingly warmer in a few decades.

Every season in every city and town in America will shift, subtly or drastically, as average temperatures creep up, along with highs and lows. Some of those changes - like summers in the Southwest warming by 4°F on average - will mean stretches of days where it's so hot, it'll be dangerous to go outside. Heat waves around the country could last up to a month.

Winters will lose days in the 20s and 30s. Rain and snowstorms will be more intense and frequent in some places and less predictable and lighter in others.

How winter and summer temperatures will shift nationwide by 2050

So much of a city's culture and economy depends on the particulars of the local climate. How high will summer electricity bills be in Frederick, Maryland, when it gets as hot as Tulsa, Oklahoma, is today? What happens to New Hampshire's tourism if there's little snow for skiing? Where will Phoenix, Arizona, get its water when the Colorado River slows to a trickle? When will the threat of devastating hurricanes make it too risky to live on the Gulf Coast?

For those who can't afford to move to cool off from the heat, or find work when local agriculture dries up and fisheries die, these changes will be devastating.
In the map below, see how the weather (and precipitation) in several Northern cities will look and feel a lot like how Southern cities do today. In some cities, it'll be like moving two states south.

By 2050, the weather in many cities will be similar to southern cities today

You may be thinking an average increase of a few degrees to your summer and winter weather doesn't seem that bad.

But buried in these averages are extreme weather events - heat waves, severe rainstorms, and droughts - that will be much more damaging and dangerous than the smaller shifts in averages.

In California, for instance, the average temperature shifts will be more subtle. But new climate models show there will be more frequent swings from periods of intense rain to extreme drought, a phenomenon known as weather whiplash. That will put extra stresses on dams and farmers and is likely to lead to more severe mudslides.

Indeed, not every part of the country will experience the same degree or same kind of change.
So we've highlighted the 10 cities whose winters and summers will warm the most and the least by 2050 - compared with your own. (You can sort by change in temperature.)

How your city's average temperature shifts compare to others

Sort cities by:

Shift in winter lows

Shift in summer highs

Population

Cities where winters will warm the most by 2050 How your city compares Cities where winters will warm the least by 2050 Cities where summers will warm the most by 2050 How your city compares Cities where summers will warm the least by 2050 Most populated US cities How your city compares Least populated of top 1,000 US cities

These projections tell us that Midwestern cities like Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit will see some of the most dramatic shifts in winter lows - from the low 20s up about 5.5°F to the high 20s.

Bozeman, Montana; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Chicago will all see their average summer high shift up by nearly 6°F - a much hotter overall summer.

And America's biggest cities, with the exception of San Diego, will all see both their summer and winter temperatures shift by more than 3°F on average.

The big takeaway: The farther north you go in the US, the faster it's warming. (The same is true for the northern latitudes around the world.)
So far, we've just focused on shifts in winter lows and summer highs. But there's more. You can see how temperatures are projected to change throughout the entire year near you:

And here are the projections for precipitation. If you compare cities, you'll see a lot of variation. And know that scientists are much more uncertain about how rain and snow will change than they are about temperatures:

Can we stop this from happening?

The scenario for future emissions we used to predict the weather in 2050 assumes that we will continue to burn fossil fuels at the same rate, and that the world will have warmed on average by 2°C, or 3.6°F, since preindustrial levels.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in early October reported that it is still possible to limit average global warming to 1.5°C, or 2.7°F - the more ambitious target under the Paris climate agreement - this century. But to do so, we would need to drastically cut emissions in the next 12 years, halving current levels by 2030.

That would take an unprecedented international effort. And many scientists believe we've already made irreversible changes, that we are already on course for at least 2°C, or 3.6°F, of warming by midcentury. It will take years, probably decades, for the climate system to fully register the greenhouse gases we've already emitted, are still emitting, and will emit in the coming years.

But as the IPCC argues, it's essential that we take every possible step now to reduce emissions to avoid the worst outcomes in the coming decades and centuries. Continued high emissions portend even more alarming changes to the planet by 2100 - with warming upward of 4°C, or 7.2°F. But we still have a real shot at limiting it to 2°C or 3°C.

This means immediately accelerating all the tools we already are using to decarbonize the energy system, and developing many new ones, like better technologies to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Read our story about a new climate voter's guide and consider the political changes we'll need too.

As individuals, we can buy less, fly less, drive less, and eat less meat and dairy. We can start planning and preparing now for the warmer future. A problem like climate change was wrought by humanity, and its solutions must come from us too.

Where our data came from

To answer the question of how much temperatures in US cities will change by 2050, we looked at the average summer high and winter low temperatures in 1,000 cities in the continental US, comparing recorded and modeled temperatures from 1986 to 2015 to projections for 2036 to 2065. This offers us the best possible estimate on how much winters and summers will shift from 2000 to 2050.

With help from researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, we built our analysis on the Localized Constructed Analogs data set, which draws on 32 different global climate models. The scenario we examined is known as Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5, one standardized set of assumptions of humanity's trajectory in the coming years.

RCP 8.5 presumes that the world will continue increasing energy use at the same rate and in the same forms. It predicts the world will have warmed on average by 2°C, or 3.6°F, by roughly 2040.

There are very legitimate criticisms of RCP 8.5 - that it's too pessimistic, ignores progress we've already made on decarbonization, and majorly overestimates how much coal we'll burn. But two climate scientists we spoke to, Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick at the University of New South Wales, and Kate Marvel at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, argued it was a realistic scenario for now.

Scientists have also examined the future of the global climate presuming the world takes moderate to aggressive action to curb greenhouse gas emissions. But emissions over the past 10 years track reasonably well with RCP 8.5, so it's a useful marker, establishing the boundaries of the worst-case scenario for the climate.

We averaged annual temperature and rainfall patterns for 30 years (1986-2015) to establish a climate baseline for cities. This average helps eliminate year-to-year variations in the climate like El Niño cycles, isolating the changes wrought by human activity. We then examined how these cities would warm by 2050, again averaging over 30 years (2036-2065). We limited our focus to the contiguous United States, where we had the best data and the most relevant cities for comparison. (Sorry, Alaska and Hawaii.)

There are some other caveats to this analysis. Temperature and precipitation are just two variables out of dozens that define a climate, so there will be many other shifts, including frequency and severity of extreme weather, that matter to people's day-to-day lives. "The timing and total rainfall of the rainy season really matter for agriculture," said Marvel. "What matters for city dwellers is the increase in precipitation extremes."

The climate data used here is also a global projection that's been downscaled, so some precision is lost when looking at smaller sections of the planet, like cities.

Credits

Fact-checker

Tim Williams

Special Thanks

David Pierce, Climate Research Division at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Peter Gibson, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Tushar Khot, Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence

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America is warming fast. See how your city's weather will be different by 2050.

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Our world is getting warmer. This we know. Just look at Alaska, which experienced all-time record heat in July, topping out at 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Dozens of other cities are in the throes of a heat wave this week, which forecasters have warned will be "prolonged, dangerous, and potentially deadly."

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Project Overview

The compelling issue:
Climate change has been called the defining issue of the next generation. As students grapple with the chemical and physical science associated with how humans are impacting our climate, they have one question: what can we do?

The podcast:
Creating a podcast not only gave the students an outlet for expressing their knowledge but also empowered them to use their voices to create social change. A series of informational essays during the three case studies-Physical Change, Chemical Change, Social Change-provided ample content for students to join into groups to write, edit, record and publish a 10-episode podcast. Podcasting not only provided an excellent vehicle for content understanding but also allowed for demonstration of ELA standards.
During the process, students used information from research projects, texts, and expert presentations during field studies to generate content for the episodes. Before recording, students were able to get feedback on their scripts from a professional podcast journalist. Students chose from roles such as lead writer, sound engineer/audio editor, research journalist/fact-checker, or copy editor/publisher, and split into topic groups to write, record, edit and publish their podcasts. In addition to the podcast, students worked with a local Makerspace to craft a collaborative art project that included symbolic and literal elements of the Weather We Change expedition content. A woodworking group created a background from repurposed lumber while another group cut student drawn art using a metal plasma cutter. Student art and poetry were also burned into wood using a laser printer and salvaged bike frames were cut apart and welded into the word CHANGE to represent the message that students wanted to convey. The mural was mounted in front of the bike rack at the school in hopes of inspiring social change.
We Asked the Teacher 1. What was compelling for your students about this?
Podcasts are everywhere and climate change has been called the most important issue facing the next generation. Needless to say, experts and fieldwork were easy to come by and students really felt like they were creating a relevant product that was contributing to an important issue, which was motivating for all involved!
2. What were the challenges?
Creating consistent audio volume and quality was challenging. We ended up creating a "recording studio" in the back of the classroom with a parachute draped over some stools surrounding a table to allow students to record without feeling like they were in a fishbowl with the rest of the class watching. This also provided a high stakes opportunity for the rest of the class to demonstrate character traits working quietly during recording sessions.
3. What makes this particular piece a model for other students?
I would encourage educators everywhere to evaluate how much climate change-related science is incorporated into the curriculum. It is a topic that will affect everyone and it is more important than ever for the future generations to understand the facts and science surrounding this topic in order to have fact-based discourse when creating solutions and adaptations that may be necessary. Even if climate change is not your topic of study, podcasts require a focus on researching, writing, and presenting that is matched by few other mediums for final products. Lastly, online tools and resources have never been as easy to use and classroom-oriented as they are now.
4. What would be your advice to a teacher that is inspired by this project?
Informational essays can be written and graded, then turned into scripts for podcasts creating a standard based grade and a meaningful product. Additionally, a well-structured rubric and criteria for your podcast are important to create the final product you are looking for. Create your own mini-podcast trying out the free online soundtrap.com sound editing software and upload it to the soundcloud.com hosting platform. There are many how-to videos and many resources out there.

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The compelling issue: Climate change has been called the defining issue of the next generation. As students grapple with the chemical and physical science associated with how humans are impacting our climate, they have one question: what can we do?