Question and answer

Open Course Library ENVS&100 Learning Activities

READINGS FOR Module VI: The Atmosphere: Air, Weather and Climate

Week 2 of Module VI: Climate & Climate Change/Global Warming

The Habitable Planet Textbook http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/

• Unit 12 : Earth's Changing Climate Earth's climate is a sensitive system that is subject to dramatic shifts over varying time scales. Today human activities are altering the climate system by increasing concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which raises global temperatures. In this unit, examine the science behind global climate change and explore its potential impacts on natural ecosystems and human societies.

1. Introduction 2. Tipping Earth's Energy Balance 3. Climate Change: What the Past Tells Us 4. Past Warming: The Eocene Epoch 5. Global Cooling: The Pleistocene Epoch 6. Present Warming and the Role of CO2

7. Observed Impacts of Climate Change 8. Other Potential Near-Term Impacts 9. Major Laws and Treaties 10. Further Reading

IPCC's Climate Change 2014 Synthesis Report

And read all 3 of these:

The 10 Things You Need to Know from the New IPCC Climate Report http://grist.org/climate-energy/the-10-things-you-need-to-know-from-the-new-ipcc-climate-report/ or a PDF version: http://scidiv.bellevuecollege.edu/gj/The10ThingsIPCC2014.pdf

and

Certainty vs. Uncertainty: Understanding Scientific Terms about Climate Change http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/certainty-vs-uncertainty.html or a PDF version: http://scidiv.bellevuecollege.edu/gj/CertaintyVsUncertainty.pdf

and

IPCC Climate Change 2014 Synthesis Report – Summary for Policymakers

http://ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/syr/AR5_SYR_FINAL_SPM.pdf or: http://scidiv.bellevuecollege.edu/gj/IPCC2014SynthesisSPM.pdf

NOTE: For additional information from reliable, credible, scientific sources,

please see my Climate Change page:

http://scidiv.bellevuecollege.edu/gj/ClimateChange.html

For example, there are high-quality, readable publications that address the most common "climate myths". I also include links to documents referred to in the film An Inconvenient Truth (which you will be watching for this class).