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Alice Brierley, Maheen Tahir, Alyssa Checkley and Shazeen Akmal

Subject: Maths and Computer Science

Year Group focus: YR 9

Learning Objective: To understand the impact of climate change

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30-60 mins: Introduce data sets and visual graphs - Classroom discussion and interactive activities based on the graphs

Main task: Nature based activities: e.g., nature walk. Tally chart on things like how much litter they see (this is up to the students to decide what they want to explore). At the end, the class nominate themselves for the Climate Hero Cert from WWF.

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Mixed ability Year 9 group in Nuneaton which has a park nearby. Students will work in groups.

Prior learning: students are able to construct bar charts/tally charts- if students have forgotten, it would take 5 mins to recap. Students would have already looked at climate change within their Geography lessons.

It will increase student awareness of climate change, increase nature connectedness (particularly because they will choose to tally an area that they want to) and allow students to work collaboratively with one another.

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Knowledge:

-Climate change statistics and the impact this has on the world. Students will be given an article and shown a video.

-Nature walk gives them a chance to go outside to the local park where they can see the effects of climate change in a real life setting

-Link Maths and Computer Science to the environment through creation of of whichever visual method students choose for example, bar charts, pie charts etc. Python can be used to illustrate this.

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Critical Thinking Skills: The ability to analyse information, question assumptions and make reasoned judgements.

Problem Solving skills: identify challenges and finding creative and effective solutions.

Collaboration: working effectively with others, respecting diverse perspectives and contributing to team goals.

Communication: expressing ideas clearly and listening.

Digital literacy: using technology effectively and safely for learning and communication.

Adaptability: being flexible and open to change, learning and embracing new ideas.

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Global Warming and its Effects- National Geographic

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Global Warming and its Effects- National Geographic

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Climate change encompasses not only rising average temperatures but also natural disasters, shifting wildlife habitats, rising seas, and a range of other impacts. All of these changes are emerging as humans continue to add heat-trapping greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane, to the atmosphere.

What causes global warming?

When fossil fuel emissions are pumped into the atmosphere, they change the chemistry of our atmosphere, allowing sunlight to reach the Earth but preventing heat from being released into space. This keeps Earth warm, like a greenhouse, and this warming is known as the greenhouse effect.

Carbon dioxide is the most commonly found greenhouse gas and about 75 percent of all the climate warming pollution in the atmosphere. This gas is a product of producing and burning oil, gas, and coal. About a quarter of Carbon dioxide also results from land cleared for timber or agriculture.

Methane is another common greenhouse gas. Although it makes up only about 16 percent of emissions, it's roughly 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide and dissipates more quickly. That means methane can cause a large spark in warming, but ending methane pollution can also quickly limit the amount of atmospheric warming. Sources of this gas include agriculture (mostly livestock), leaks from oil and gas production, and waste from landfills.

What are the effects of global warming?

One of the most concerning impacts of global warming is the effect warmer temperatures will have on Earth's polar regions and mountain glaciers. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. This warming reduces critical ice habitat and it disrupts the flow of the jet stream, creating more unpredictable weather patterns around the globe.

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A warmer planet doesn't just raise temperatures. From wildfires to flooding to coral bleaching, here are some real-world implications.

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Teach the pupils to analyse environmental datasets (results from the tally charts) and create visualisations using excel, google sheets, or python. and learn basic concepts for predicting trends like using linear regression to forecast temperature changes

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understanding the basics of climate change, ecosystems, sustainability, and the impact of human activities on the environment.

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familiarity with emerging technologies and their implications for society

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The science that affects our world

The Earth's global temperature is warming, meaning that weather patterns and ecosystems are changing more quickly than animal species and human communities can adapt to.

Our new introductory climate change resources have been designed to introduce the topic of climate change to students aged 7 -11. Secondary school students, and primary school students with an existing knowledge of climate change, can further explore the affects climate change is having on our world through our series of engaging curriculum linked programmes and activities. Tell us how your school is helping to tackle climate change to claim your Climate Hero certificate.

Activities for the classroom

Take Part

Explore the issues affecting our world

The following programmes explore - in more detail - the issues affecting our world. Select from the following climate change education programmes to access teacher packs, activities and classroom presentations. Suitable for primary and secondary school students.

Claim your 'Climate Hero' certificate

If you've run an Introduction to Climate Change lesson, taken part in one of our other climate change activities, or are delivering other exciting green initiatives in your school, simply tell us about it and can claim a Climate Hero certificate for your class or star pupil!

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Our climate change resources have been designed to introduce the topic of the affects climate change is having on our world

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valuing and striving for sustainable practices in everyday life.

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Our carbon dioxide (CO ₂) emissions dataset is one of our most-used datasets on Our World in Data. It is the key metric we need to understand our progress on slowing global climate change.

Here we document the sources that we use to build this dataset; how we calculate additional derived metrics; and answer frequently asked questions that people have about this data.

You can find our Complete CO ₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions dataset, including all of the raw data and the scripts we use to build it, in our GitHub repository.

You can explore all of this data in our CO Emissions Data Explorer.

Below we provide details of the underlying data sources used to build this dataset. When citing this work, please also cite the original sources.

Territorial annual CO₂ emissions

Our main metric - annual CO ₂ emissions - is sourced from the Global Carbon Project. This is the primary raw metric that we rely on to calculate the range of derived metrics presented below.

Andrew and Peters provide a clear and detailed methodology on how this data is constructed (this is recommended reading for users):

The Global Carbon Project updates its dataset annually with data on global and national CO ₂ emissions, extending back to the year 1750.

We present our data for three key metrics:

'Fossil CO₂ emissions', which includes all emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement. It does not include emissions from land use change.

Land use change emissions.

The combined total of land use change and fossil CO₂ emissions.

The main Global Carbon Project dataset provides annual emissions from 1959 onwards. However, a long-term dataset from 1750 onwards is also supplied by Robbie Andrew and Glen Peters. It is this long-term dataset that we rely on.

It also provides per capita estimates - we do not take these values, and instead calculate our own, as detailed in the next section. Any differences between our per capita emissions and those of the Global Carbon Project will result from differences in the population denominator that is applied.

The Global Carbon Project collate and assimilate a large number of data sources to produce their fossil CO ₂ emissions dataset, including official reports to the UNFCCC, national official statistical agencies, CDIAC-FF, Energy Institute, and many others.

Full citation: Friedlingstein, P., O'Sullivan, M., Jones, M. W., Andrew, R. M., Bakker, D. C. E., Hauck, J., Landschützer, P., Le Quéré, C., Luijkx, I. T., Peters, G. P., Peters, W., Pongratz, J., Schwingshackl, C., Sitch, S., Canadell, J. G., Ciais, P., Jackson, R. B., Alin, S. R., Anthoni, P., Barbero, L., Bates, N. R., Becker, M., Bellouin, N., Decharme, B., Bopp, L., Brasika, I. B. M., Cadule, P., Chamberlain, M. A., Chandra, N., Chau, T.-T.-T., Chevallier, F., Chini, L. P., Cronin, M., Dou, X., Enyo, K., Evans, W., Falk, S., Feely, R. A., Feng, L., Ford, D. J., Gasser, T., Ghattas, J., Gkritzalis, T., Grassi, G., Gregor, L., Gruber, N., Gürses, Ö., Harris, I., Hefner, M., Heinke, J., Houghton, R. A., Hurtt, G. C., Iida, Y., Ilyina, T., Jacobson, A. R., Jain, A., Jarníková, T., Jersild, A., Jiang, F., Jin, Z., Joos, F., Kato, E., Keeling, R. F., Kennedy, D., Klein Goldewijk, K., Knauer, J., Korsbakken, J. I., Körtzinger, A., Lan, X., Lefèvre, N., Li, H., Liu, J., Liu, Z., Ma, L., Marland, G., Mayot, N., McGuire, P. C., McKinley, G. A., Meyer, G., Morgan, E. J., Munro, D. R., Nakaoka, S.-I., Niwa, Y., O'Brien, K. M., Olsen, A., Omar, A. M., Ono, T., Paulsen, M., Pierrot, D., Pocock, K., Poulter, B., Powis, C. M., Rehder, G., Resplandy, L., Robertson, E., Rödenbeck, C., Rosan, T. M., Schwinger, J., Séférian, R., Smallman, T. L., Smith, S. M., Sospedra-Alfonso, R., Sun, Q., Sutton, A. J., Sweeney, C., Takao, S., Tans, P. P., Tian, H., Tilbrook, B., Tsujino, H., Tubiello, F., van der Werf, G. R., van Ooijen, E., Wanninkhof, R., Watanabe, M., Wimart-Rousseau, C., Yang, D., Yang, X., Yuan, W., Yue, X., Zaehle, S., Zeng, J., and Zheng, B.: Global Carbon Budget 2023, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5301-5369, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023, 2023.

Consumption-based annual CO₂ emissions

Our data on annual consumption-based CO 2 emissions is also sourced from the Global Carbon Project. The data is available here.

It provides estimates for some - but not all - countries from 1990 onwards (see our FAQ on this below). This is based on the methodology laid out by Peters et al. (2012).

Consumption-based emissions data does not include land use change. Only emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement production - are included.

The original data is presented in tonnes of carbon. To convert to tonnes of CO ₂, we have multiplied these values by 3.664. This is the conversion factor recommended by the Global Carbon Project. It comes from the fact that an average CO ₂ molecule has a mass 3.664 times that of a carbon atom.

Total greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions

Our data on annual emissions of total greenhouse gas emissions, methane emissions and nitrous oxide emissions is sourced from Climate Watch.

It provides estimates on total greenhouse gas emissions (including, and excluding land use change as separate metrics); methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions. These are measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO ₂ e) based on 100-year global warming potential factors for non-CO₂ gases.

Note that these figures come with higher uncertainty than data on CO ₂ emissions from fossil fuels. Total greenhouse gas emissions can also appear to be lower than CO ₂ emissions from fossil fuels if a country has large negative emissions from land use change (see our FAQ on this below).

At Our World in Data we use this long-term data on annual CO ₂ emissions to calculate several additional metrics. All of these metrics are presented in our CO Emissions Data Explorer.

Below we explain how these metrics are calculated, and any additional sources used.

CO₂ emissions per capita

CO ₂ emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.

It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.

The source for the annual CO ₂ emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.

The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed here.

Greenhouse gas emissions; methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions per capita

Emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.

It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.

The source for the annual greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions data is the Climate Watch Data Explorer, as described above.

The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed here.

Cumulative CO₂ emissions

We calculate cumulative CO ₂ emissions as the sum of annual emissions from 1750 onwards.

For example, cumulative emissions in 1755 are the sum of emissions from 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, and 1755.

We calculate this globally and for every country.

Share of global CO₂ emissions

We calculate this metric by dividing a country or region's emissions by the global emissions in any given year.

For example, if Country A emitted 1 billion tonnes of CO ₂ in 2019, and global emissions in 2019 were 36 billion tonnes, country A was responsible for:

[1 / 36] * 100 = 2.8% of global emissions.

CO₂ emissions per unit of primary energy

CO ₂ emissions per unit of primary energy are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country's energy mix is. A country that relies heavily on coal, for example, will emit large amounts of CO2 emissions per unit of energy. A country that has lots of nuclear and renewables will emit much less.

We calculate this metric by dividing the total annual emissions of a country or region by its primary energy consumption.

The source for the annual CO ₂ emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.

For annual energy consumption, we combined two sources. Our primary data source is the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy. However, it does not provide data on primary energy consumption for all countries. For countries absent from this dataset, we rely on the international energy data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

CO₂ emissions per dollar of GDP (carbon intensity of economies)

CO ₂ emissions per dollar are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country's economy is (hence why it is often called the 'carbon intensity of economies').

We calculate this by dividing a country or region's annual CO ₂ emissions by its total annual gross domestic product (GDP).

The source for the annual CO ₂ emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.

The source for GDP data is the Maddison Project database. We calculate total GDP by multiplying the Maddison metric of GDP per capita, by the total population. You can find our chart with this data here. GDP is measured in constant 2011 international-dollars. This means that it adjusts for price changes over time (inflation) and price differences between countries.

Full citation: Maddison Project Database, version 2020. Bolt, Jutta and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2020), "Maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy. A new 2020 update".

Emissions embedded in trade

We calculate this as the difference between a country's consumption-based emissions and territorial emissions. This means it is the net trade of emissions.

It is equal to consumption-based emissions minus territorial emissions in any given year. This means net importers of emissions have positive values. Net exporters have negative values.

This metric is shown here.

Emissions embedded in trade as a share of domestic emissions

We calculate this by taking the metric described above - net emissions embedded in trade - and dividing it by a country's territorial (domestic) emissions.

Again, positive values mean a country is a net importer of emissions. Negative values mean a country is a net exporter.

This metric is shown here.

The Global Carbon Project (GCP) updates its data annually - typically in November or December each year. We aim to update very soon after each new release.

How do researchers estimate and construct long-term CO₂ emissions?

Unlike atmospheric CO 2 concentrations which we can monitor directly in the modern day, our emissions of CO ₂ from energy production and industry are not measured directly.

Instead, researchers estimate them indirectly based on the amount of fuel that we burn, and the amount of industrial products we produce.

Calculating the amount of CO ₂ emitted from energy consumption is relatively simple. We need to know three things:

1. How much of a given fuel (e.g. coal) is burned

2. The carbon content of this fuel

3. How much of this carbon is oxidised in the combustion process

By multiplying these figures together we can estimate the CO ₂ produced from a given fuel:

CO ₂ (in terms of carbon) = Quantity of fuel burned * Carbon content of this fuel * Fraction of this carbon that is oxidised

Points (2) and (3) are now well-established for the range of fuels that we use for energy - coal, oil, and gas (as well as the variation within these fuels - for example, lignite is a form of coal that has a low carbon content compared to bituminous coal).

For factor (1) researchers use detailed accounts of fossil fuel extraction, production, and trade to estimate how much of a given fuel is burned in each country. For a country, this would be calculated as:

Consumption = Production - Exports + Imports + Change in stocks

For modern data this is much more straightforward: most countries and industries have and need detailed accounts of energy supply and demand ( see our Energy Data Explorer, for example).

Researchers have invested large efforts into reconstructions of historical energy statistics, dating back to 1750 (see, for example, Andres et al. (1999); Etemad et al. (1998)). The further back in time we go, the less detailed our records are; and for some countries, these figures have greater uncertainty. Nonetheless, they provide solid estimates of long-term trends in energy consumption - and derived CO ₂ emissions.

Are emissions from land use change included?

Until the 2022 update of the Global Carbon Budget, national emissions data was only available for CO ₂ emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes (such as cement production). Emissions from land-use change were only reported as global totals.

The 2022 update - for the first time - includes land use estimates for countries, extending back to 1750.

The quality of these estimates is better for some countries than others. In this chart we show the project's assessment of the data quality for each country.

Since the estimates of emissions for fossil fuels and industry are much more certain than for land use change, we still adopt the former as our main CO ₂ emissions metric. However, we now also include charts on land use change, and combined emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use.

Are emissions from aviation and shipping included?

Emissions from domestic aviation and shipping are included in each country's total. Emissions from international aviation and shipping are not included in any country or region's total. This is because there is no international agreement on how these emissions should be allocated: should they, for example, be allocated to the country of origin or destination? In our related article we look at a separate dataset on emissions from aviation.

They are, however, included in the global total. You also find it here as a separate category.

Does this data account for emissions embedded in traded goods?

We report CO ₂ emissions in two ways:

The standard reported metric is territorial CO emissions. This is the metric typically reported by countries, and the method used to set targets and monitor progress towards them. It does not adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods. It allocates emissions to each country on the basis of where the CO was emitted. For example, If China burns coal to produce goods that are then sold and shipped to the UK, these emissions are allocated to China.

We also provide consumption-based CO emissions as a second metric. This does adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods and services. Emissions are allocated to the country where the final goods are used. In the example above, the emissions would instead be allocated to the UK.
Unless specified as consumption-based emissions in our charts or data, it is territorial CO 2 emissions that are being used.
Why are consumption-based emissions only available from 1990? Why are they not available for all countries?

To calculate consumption-based emissions we need detailed trade data between countries and the emissions intensity (the amount of CO ₂ emitted per dollar spent) across many industries and sectors in each country. Prior to 1990, there is insufficient high-quality, high-resolution data to produce these calculations.

For this same reason - insufficient high-resolution trade data - it is not currently possible to calculate consumption-based emissions for all countries. It is mostly high-income and major economies that are included.

Consumption-based emissions also always lag territorial emissions by one year. For example, when territorial emissions for 2020 were released, the latest year for consumption-based emissions was 2019. This is because the required resolution of trade data was not yet available for 2020.

Why are emissions from cement reported as an individual category?

You will notice in our charts which show the breakdown of emissions by fuel type (coal, oil, gas) that cement is also included as an individual category.

This category captures the direct CO ₂ emissions from the industrial process used in cement production.

Cement has a binding agent called 'clinker'. To produce this clinker, limestone (calcium carbonate: CaCO ₃) is heated to very high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment. This produces lime (CaO). But it also produces CO 2 as a by-product. So, we get:

These are direct emissions from the cement production process. They account for around half of cement's total emissions (the direct emissions from this process, plus indirect emissions from energy use). Only the direct emissions for cement are allocated to this category in this dataset.

The indirect emissions from producing energy to power this process are not included in the 'cement' category: they are allocated, instead, to the relevant fuels (coal, oil, gas) used in the energy process.

Why are total greenhouse gas emissions lower than CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels for some countries?

For some countries, total greenhouse gas emissions can be lower than emissions from fossil fuels, or in some cases they can even be negative.

This is because the metric of total greenhouse gas emissions includes emissions from land use change. In some years, land use emissions can be 'negative', if a country sequesters a lot of CO ₂ through reforestation or carbon sequestration. If land use change emissions are negative, total greenhouse gas emissions can appear to be lower than CO ₂ emissions from fossil fuels. If a country has very large negative emissions, total greenhouse gas emissions can also be negative.

Note that there is significant uncertainty in land use change emissions - significantly more than emissions from fossil fuels.

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CO₂ emissions dataset: our sources and methods

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How do we construct our global data on CO₂ emissions?

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Whole class discussion of data sets/ impact of climate change/ what students do at home to tackle climate change.

Watching videos/reading articles on climate change.

Group work on nature walk.

Link to subject studies through tally charts/ bar charts.

Empowering student voice as they are able to pick a topic of their choice and present to their peers- think of creative solutions

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The UK's zero carbon schools campaign, uniting schools working to become carbon zero by 2030 and safeguard the planet for future generations.

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Precipitation - Temperature - Sea Level - Observations (past) - Projections (Future) - Socioeconomic Data UK SSPs

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Explore and download observed and projected climate data from the Met Office.

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Teacher will nominate the best group/ the whole class for WWF Climate Hero Certification.

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We are a network of School based operations professionals and volunteers in the UK Schools Sustainability Network working together to improve sustainability in schools

Our members include
School Business Leaders
Estates Managers
Operations Managers
Governors

Welcome to the home of UK Schools Sustainability Network (UKSSN) Operations Group.

The UKSSN Operations group is a branch of the UK Schools Sustainability Network. Our purpose is to bring together school business, finance and operations leaders to discuss and collaborate on promoting and strengthening climate action and sustainability in schools.

To find out more about UKSSN go to About the UK Schools Sustainability Network (transform-our-world.org)

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Welcome to the home of UK Schools Sustainability Network (UKSSN) Operations Group. The UKSSN Operations group is a branch of the UK Schools Sustainability Network. Our purpose is to bring together school business, finance and operations leaders to discuss and collaborate on promoting and strengthening climate action and sustainability in schools.

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Each group will present their findings and climate change summary to the class.

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1. Students will be presented with historical figures on climate change. Opportunity for class discussion/ what the students do at home that contributes towards a better environment. 30-60 mins

2. Nature walk- students will pick their own area of interest and will observe this in a nearby park e.g., how much litter they find. 1 hour

3. After the nature walk, students will create a form of data visualisation to illustrate their data e.g., bar charts. 30 mins

4. Students will research for a way to reduce this based on their chosen topic and create a presentation or a poster. 1hr 30-2hrs

5. Students will present their ideas to the class. 1hr

6. Best presentation will be nominated for WWF certification.

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To gain appreciation of nature, from doing the nature walk. Pupils can then plant and grow plants or trees at the school, to continue understanding the sustainable practices.

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To gain appreciation of nature, from doing the nature walk. Pupils can then plant and grow plants or trees at the school, to continue understanding the sustainable practices.

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Following on from what students have learnt about the impacts of climate change and the nature walk students can get involved in activities improving the school grounds. As this is one of the eco schools 10 topics.

This could involve students planting trees, growing plants, or even starting a vegetable patch which would link to one of the other 10 topics which is healthy eating.

Alternatively students could think about creating habitats for wildlife such as making bird houses or bug hotels and planting bee friendly flowers including leaving some areas of grass to overgrow providing habitats for animals.

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What are the solutions to climate change? | Greenpeace UK

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Climate change is a threat to millions of lives. Here are some solutions.