Embedded Files
Supplies
Supplies
- Beaker or clear plastic container (two per student)
- plastic wrap
- rubber band or string
- Thermometers or temperature probes (two)
- tape
Instructions
Instructions
1. Tape the thermometers into the beakers or other containers, making sure you can read the temperature easily. If you are using lightweight plastic cups, it may help to tape them down the table for stability.
2. Use the rubber band to secure plastic wrap over the top of one of the containers. (Plastic wrap represents greenhouse gases trapping heat inside the atmosphere)
3. Put the containers into sunshine. Make sure they receive the same amount of sun.
4. Record the temperature of each bottle after about 30 minutes.
Source:
Source:
(For more information and materials on this lab, click the link above)
Points to Emphasize and Discuss
Points to Emphasize and Discuss
- What is the greenhouse effect?
- How does this relate to climate change?
- What are some examples of greenhouse gases?
- What happened to each of the beakers?
- Why does plastic wrap represent greenhouses gases? How is the effect similar?
- What are some effects of climate change?
- What is the debate on climate change all about? (See "Further Research" below)
Further Research: What is the debate on climate change all about?
Further Research: What is the debate on climate change all about?
"The Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 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. "
However...
"The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is extremely likely (greater than 95 percent probability) to be the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades to millennia "
- Source: NASA (https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ )
Evidence
Evidence
"Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers show that the 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 ten times faster than the average rate of ice-age-recovery warming. "
- Source: NASA (https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ )
Other Opinions
Other Opinions
"In 2009 the U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee published a report listing more than 700 scientist-skeptics expressing a spectrum of dissenting views, many questioning the role of anthropogenic emissions in climate change, although a few are quoted denying climate change altogether "
"Skeptics in the media (typically conservatives) deride global warming as a monumental hoax, while those who believe in the evidence for human-induced climate change (typically liberals) accuse the skeptics of being industry-funded hacks... But a closer look reveals that what conservative bloggers, pundits, and politicians say about climate change isn’t reflected by what even the more skeptical scientists actually believe. Indeed, scientist-skeptics no longer deny that global warming is actually happening, according to Stefan Rahmstorf, a professor at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "
Source: Environmental Health Perspectives (https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.118-a536 )
Scientific Consensus
Scientific Consensus
"Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities, and most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position."
- Source: NASA (https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ )
List of scientific organizations that hold the position that Climate Change has been caused by human action: http://www.opr.ca.gov/facts/list-of-scientific-organizations.html
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