What is the Future of Earth’s Climate? Introduction

The question of whether the Earth is warming is one of the most intriguing questions that scientists are dealing with today. Climate has a significant influence on all of Earth’s ecosystems today. What will future climates be like? Scientists have begun to examine ice cores dating back over 100 years to study the changes in the concentrations of carbon dioxide gas from carbon emissions to see if a true correlation exists between human impact and increasing temperatures on Earth.

CO2 from Carbon Emissions

This has led many scientists to ask the question: What will future climates be like? Today, you will interact, ask questions, and analyze data from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies to generate some predictions about global climate change in the future.

Review the data of global climate change on the slide below. Complete the questions on the following slide.

This link works! Graphics Courtesy: NASA Goodard Space Institute-- https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/animations/5year_2y.mp4 Looking at the data...

1. Between what years was the greatest change in overall climate observed?

2. Using what you know, what happened in this time period that may have attributed to these changes in global climate?

3. How might human activities contribute to these changes? What more information would you need to determine how humans may have impacted global climate change?

Is there a connection between fossil fuel consumption and global climate change?

Temperature Change 1880-2020 CO2 Levels (ppm) from 2006-2018

Examine the graphs above. Record some observations. You will need these observations to answer the prompts on the final slide. Question: Is there a connection between fossil fuel consumption and global climate change?

Claim: (A statement that answers the question you investigated)

Evidence: (data and observations from your investigation)

Reasoning: (I think (insert your claim) answers the question (insert question) because….)