Climate Change
In quarter 2, I started researching climate change. To get some general information, I first created questions that I had about climate change, and then did some research to answer them. Then in quarter 3, I did more research and used what I had learned to create some visuals and explanations about climate change in the oceans to get the Change, Cause, and Effects standard and the Matter and Energy standard.
General Climate Change Questions (And Answers)
Here is the link to my more extensive list of climate change questions that I originally brainstormed.
These are the questions that I chose to research, and the answers to those questions:
What is climate change?
Climate change is the changing in temperature of the Earth’s climate (climate is average weather over time). The Earth’s climate has changed a lot over the course of its existence, and in the past that changing has been gradual, giving plants and animals time to adapt. But recently the Earth’s climate has been changing (growing warmer) faster than ever before, and it is changing faster than the living organisms can adapt to it.
Rapid climate change is what is happening now: gradual change in the Earth’s climate is normal, but rapid climate change is when that change happens fast and not gradually, too fast for species to have time to adapt and adjust to it.
What are the effects of climate change?
Ice melting (it freezes at 0° C (32° F), but at 0.5° C (33° F) it doesn’t freeze - every degree and fraction of a degree of warming climate matters!)
Melting ice contributes to rising sea levels: scientists have measured an 18 cm. (7 in.) rise in sea level since 1880
Species becoming endangered (like pikas in Western U.S. states)
Too much carbon dioxide in the oceans, causing too much carbonic acid (formed when carbon dioxide and sea water react). Too much carbonic acid threatens organisms in the ocean (like plankton, sea urchins, squid, shellfish, and coral). When some of these organisms are threatened, or start to decline, it affects all of them because it messes up the food chain.
Coral reefs dying, scientists predict that coral reefs could be gone by 2050, at the current rate of rapid climate change.
Warming water in oceans, causing rising sea levels and less oxygen in the oceans (making habitats inhospitable for some organisms).
How does climate change have impacts?
The greenhouse effect causes a rise in average temperature, causing some species populations to decline as their habitats become inhospitable temperatures that they have not adapted to living in.
Coral: More carbonic acid in the oceans makes it hard for the coral to form their “outer, hard, mineral skeletons”, causing them to die off, which also negatively affects all of the organisms that live in and around the coral habitats.
Warming water in oceans and rising sea levels: Oxygen doesn’t dissolve as well in warm water as in colder water; the life in the oceans depends on lots of oxygen, and with low oxygen levels some species will not be able survive there and will die off. Water expands when it gets warmer, and melting ice on land also contributes to rising sea levels, which are a threat to coasts, as well as the people and animals living on them.
How does use of fossil fuels impact climate change?
According to Planet Nutshell, fossil fuels are “formed deep in the ground over millions of years by ancient decaying organisms, or fossils.”
Fossil fuels impact climate change by contributing to the greenhouse effect, because burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Scientists (and some governments) agree that we are releasing too much carbon dioxide, and they say that we need to reduce it to 350 ppm (parts per million) or less to prevent the worst effects of rapid climate change (currently there is over 400 ppm of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere).
What are greenhouse gasses?
Greenhouse gasses cause the greenhouse effect
They are gasses that make up the Earth’s atmosphere
What is the greenhouse effect?
The greenhouse effect is excess carbon dioxide and several other gasses (in smaller amounts, there is the most excess of carbon dioxide) preventing heat from escaping the atmosphere, causing the planet to warm up
As carbon dioxide goes up, the temperature does too - they are directly correlated
How do greenhouse gasses and the greenhouse effect contribute to climate change?
The greenhouse gasses cause the greenhouse effect, which contributes to climate change because it prevents heat from escaping the atmosphere, therefore the Earth’s climate warms up because there is more heat trapped in the atmosphere
Source:
Nutshell, Planet. "Climate Science". Planet Nutshell, produced in collaboration with Utah Education Network, 2008-2022, https://planetnutshell.com/climate-science/.
Questions about Climate Change in the Oceans
Change, Cause and Effect:
Ocean overall:
What effects does climate change have on the ocean?
How does it have those effects?
Carbonic acid:
How does climate change cause carbonic acid?
How does carbonic acid affect coral?
What are other effects of carbonic acid?
Warming water temperature:
How does climate change cause warming ocean water temperatures?
What is an example of the effects of warming water temperatures?
Rising sea levels:
How does climate change cause rising sea levels?
What is an example of the effects of rising sea levels?
The next part of this project will be to start researching so I can answer these questions.