Week People and Climate

11 Title: • Natural climate cycle

• Peoples impact on climate or global climate change: the contribution
of human
• Global climate change: the effects of climate change on socio
economic and natural systems
• Peoples impact on climate, landscapes, the ocean, endangered
species and habitats.

Prepare Mrs. Mary Grace B. Polvoriza

d by:
Introduc Climate changes have occurred throughout Earth's history, with dramatic
tion consequences to the organisms that live there. Although some climate
changes are a part of Earth's natural cycles, others are the byproduct of
human activity. Many of these activities benefit society. However, there is a
trade-off in that these activities can have an adverse effect on global climate.
Global warming is of particular concern, as evidenced by the increasing
levels of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) in the atmosphere. So at what point do the
liabilities of these activities outweigh the benefits? And can individual actions
make a difference? In this lesson, students conduct an experiment to learn
about CO2 levels found in four different gases. Then they reflect on CO2
production on a global scale. They also look at evidence of global warming
in our environment, and consider their own role in contributing to global
warming.

Pre- Direction: Answer the following items by choosing the best option:
compet
ency 1. Wasting less food is a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A
Checkli A. True
st B. False
(Formati 2. Which of the following is a greenhouse gas? D
ve A. CO2
Assess B. CH4
ment/ C. Water vapor
Diagnos D. All of the above
tic) 3. What is the Greenhouse effect? C
A. The name of climate change legislation that was passed by
Congress
B. When you paint your house green to become an environmentalist
C. When the gases in our atmosphere trap heat and block it from
escaping our planet
D. When you build a green house
 4. Which of the following are consequences associated with climate
change? E
A. The ice sheets are declining, glaciers are in retreat globally, and
our oceans are more acidic than ever.
B. Surface temperatures are setting new heat records about each
year
C. More extreme weather like droughts, heat waves, and hurricanes
D. Global sea levels are rising at an alarmingly fast rate – 17
centimeters (6.7 inches) in the last century alone and going higher
E. All of the above
5. What can you do to help fight climate change? A
A. Divest from fossil fuel companies
B. Engage yourself in the science behind climate change
C. Vote for political candidates who will advocate for climate-related
legislation and policy improvements
D. All of the above

Learnin (Please refer on page 5-18 for the lecture guide)

g Read the attached Lecture Guide on People and Climate. Take note of
Resourc the important concepts and look into the following resources for
e additional input:

• CO2 Concentrations at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaiʻi Document

• Global Warming: Graphs Tell the Story Document
• Earth System: Ice and Global Warming Video
• Mountain of Ice: If the Ice Melts Interactive

Explore Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Earth's mean surface
(Tasks/ temperature has increased by about 1.1°F (0.6°C). Over the last 40 years
Activitie — which is the period with the most reliable data — the temperature
s) increased by about 0.5°F (0.2-0.3°C). Warming in the twentieth century is
greater than at any time during the past 400 to 600 years. Seven of the ten
warmest years in the twentieth century occurred in the 1990s. In fact, the
hottest year since reliable instrumental temperature measurements began
was 1998, when global temperatures spiked due to one of the strongest El
Niños on record.
Having known those, research and write a report about how the pattern
of temperature change where you live is similar to or different from global
temperature change patterns. Include local data as well as national and
worldwide data.

Discussi • Do you agree or disagree with this statement? - Climate on Earth

on today is the same as it has been in the past.
Board • Why do you agree/disagree?
Post- Multiple Choice (5)
compet 1. The overwhelming majority of scientists agree that climate change is
ency real and caused by humans. A
Checkli A. True
st B. False
(Formati 2. What was agreed to in the “Paris Agreement” that came out of COP-
ve 21, held in Paris in 2015? B
Assess A. To protect biodiversity and end the deforestation of the world’s
ment rainforests
B. To keep global temperature rise well below 2°C pre-industrial
levels and to pursue a path to limit warming to 1.5°C.
C. To limit sea level rise to 3 feet above current levels
D. To pursue a goal of 100% clean, renewable energy
3. Which of these countries emits the most carbon dioxide? A
A. China
B. USA
C. UK
D. Russia
4. What percentage of the global greenhouse gas emissions does the
transportation sector emit? B
A. 1%
B. 14%
C. 33%
D. 70%
5. Globally, which of the following economic sectors emits the largest
percentage of greenhouse emissions? D
A. Transportation
B. Buildings
C. Industry
D. Electricity and heat production
6. Which has been the hottest year on record? C
A. 2016
B. 2020
C. All of the above
D. None of the above

Online https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ess05.sci.ess.watcyc.lp_global
& 2/global-climate-change-the-effects-of-global-warming/#.WpCVmHxG2Uk
Publish
ed https://cleanet.org/clean/literacy/principle_6.html#video
Referen
ces
 https://www.richlandone.org/cms/lib/SC02209149/Centricity/Domain/2593/L
Resourc esson%2011%20Climate%20Cycles.pdf
es
https://climatehealthconnect.org/wp-
content/uploads/2016/09/Climate101.pdf

http://myweb.wwu.edu/dbunny/pdfs/glacialfluc.pdf

https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/TAR-01.pdf

https://www.earthday.org/the-climate-change-quiz/
Topic Discussion

What’s the difference between weather, climate, climate variability and climate
change?

• Weather is the temperature, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness and wind that we

experience in the atmosphere at a given time in a specific location.
• Climate is the average weather over a long time period (30 – 50 years) in a
region.
• Climate variability refers to natural variation in climate that occurs over months
to decades. El Niño, which changes temperature, rain and wind
patterns in many
regions over about 2 – 7 years, is a good example of natural
climate variability,
also called natural variability.
• Climate change is “a systematic change in the long-term state of the atmosphere
over multiple decades or longer.”1
° Scientists use statistical tests to determine the probability that changes in
the climate are within the range of natural variability — similar to the
statistical tests used in clinical trials to determine whether a positive
response to treatment is likely to have occurred by chance. For example,
there is a less than 1% chance that the warming of the atmosphere since
1950 could be the result of natural climate variability.

The Climate System

Its components
The climate system is an interactive system consisting of five major components:
the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the land surface and the biosphere,
forced or influenced by various external forcing mechanisms, the most important of which
is the Sun (see Figure 1.1). Also the direct effect of human activities on the climate system
is considered an external forcing.
The atmosphere is the most unstable and rapidly changing part of the system. Its
composition, which has changed with the evolution of the Earth, is of central importance
to the problem assessed in this Report. The Earth’s dry atmosphere is composed mainly
of nitrogen (N2, 78.1% volume mixing ratio), oxygen (O2, 20.9% volume mixing ratio, and
argon (Ar, 0.93% volume mixing ratio). These gases have only limited interaction with the
incoming solar radiation and they do not interact with the infrared radiation emitted by the
Earth. However there are a number of trace gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2),
methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ozone (O3), which do absorb and emit infrared
radiation. These so called greenhouse gases, with a total volume mixing ratio in dry air of
less than 0.1% by volume, play an essential role in the Earth’s energy budget. Moreover
the atmosphere contains water vapour (H2O), which is also a natural greenhouse gas. Its
volume mixing ratio is highly variable, but it is typically in the order of 1%. Because these
greenhouse gases absorb the infrared radiation emitted by the Earth and emit infrared
radiation up- and downward, they tend to raise the temperature near the Earth’s surface.
Water vapour, CO2 and O3 also absorb solar short-wave radiation.

The atmospheric distribution of ozone and its role in the Earth’s energy budget
is unique. Ozone in the lower part of the atmosphere, the troposphere and lower
stratosphere, acts as a greenhouse gas. Higher up in the stratosphere there is a natural
layer of high ozone concentration, which absorbs solar ultra-violet radiation. In this way
this so-called ozone layer plays an essential role in the stratosphere’s radiative balance,
at the same time filtering out this potentially damaging form of radiation.
Beside these gases, the atmosphere also contains solid and liquid particles
(aerosols) and clouds, which interact with the incoming and outgoing radiation in a
complex and spatially very variable manner. The most variable component of the
atmosphere is water in its various phases such as vapour, cloud droplets, and ice crystals.
Water vapour is the strongest greenhouse gas. For these reasons and because the
transition between the various phases absorb and release much energy, water vapour is
central to the climate and its variability and change.
The hydrosphere is the component comprising all liquid surface and
subterranean water, both fresh water, including rivers, lakes and aquifers, and saline
water of the oceans and seas. Fresh water runoff from the land returning to the oceans
in rivers influences the ocean’s composition and circulation.
 The oceans cover approximately 70% of the Earth’s surface. They store and
transport a large amount of energy and dissolve and store great quantities of carbon
dioxide. Their circulation, driven by the wind and by density contrasts caused by salinity
and thermal gradients (the so-called thermohaline circulation), is much slower than the
atmospheric circulation. Mainly due to the large thermal inertia of the oceans, they damp
vast and strong temperature changes and function as a regulator of the
Earth’s climate and as a source of natural climate variability, in particular on the
longer time-scales. The cryosphere, including the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica,
continental glaciers and snow fields, sea ice and permafrost, derives its importance to the
climate system from its high reflectivity (albedo) for solar radiation, its low thermal
conductivity, its large thermal inertia and, especially, its critical role in driving deep ocean
water circulation. Because the ice sheets store a large amount of water, variations in
their volume are a potential source of sea level variations.
Vegetation and soils at the land surface control how energy received from the
Sun is returned to the atmosphere. Some is returned as long-wave (infrared) radiation,
heating the atmosphere as the land surface warms. Some serves to evaporate water,
either in the soil or in the leaves of plants, bringing water back into the atmosphere.
Because the evaporation of soil moisture requires energy, soil moisture has a strong
influence on the surface temperature. The texture of the land surface (its roughness)
influences the atmosphere dynamically as winds blow over the land’s surface. Roughness
is determined by both topography and vegetation. Wind also blows dust from the surface
into the atmosphere, which interacts with the atmospheric radiation.
The marine and terrestrial biospheres have a major impact on the atmosphere’s
composition. The biota influence the uptake and release of greenhouse gases. Through
the photosynthetic process, both marine and terrestrial plants (especially forests)
store significant amounts of carbon from carbon dioxide. Thus, the biosphere plays a
central role in the carbon cycle, as well as in the budgets of many other gases, such as
methane and nitrous oxide. Other biospheric emissions are the so-called volatile organic
compounds (VOC) which may have important effects on atmospheric chemistry, on
aerosol formation and therefore on climate. Because the storage of carbon and the
exchange of trace gases are influenced by climate, feedbacks between climate change
and atmospheric concentrations of trace gases can occur.
The influence of climate on the biosphere is preserved as fossils, tree rings, pollen
and other records, so that much of what is known of past climates comes from such biotic
indicators.

Interactions among the components

Many physical, chemical and biological interaction processes occur among the
various components of the climate system on a wide range of space and time scales,
making the system extremely complex. Although the components of the climate system
are very different in their composition, physical and chemical properties, structure and
behaviour, they are all linked by fluxes of mass, heat and momentum: all subsystems are
open and interrelated.
 As an example, the atmosphere and the oceans are strongly coupled and
exchange, among others, water vapour and heat through evaporation. This is part of the
hydrological cycle and leads to condensation, cloud formation, precipitation and runoff,
and supplies energy to weather systems. On the other hand, precipitation has an
influence on salinity, its distribution and the thermohaline circulation. Atmosphere and
oceans also exchange, among other gases, carbon dioxide, maintaining a balance by
dissolving it in cold polar water which sinks into the deep ocean and by outgassing in
relatively warm upwelling water near the equator.
Some other examples: sea ice hinders the exchanges between atmosphere and
oceans; the biosphere influences the carbon dioxide concentration by photosynthesis and
respiration, which in turn is influenced by climate change. The biosphere also affects the
input of water in the atmosphere through evapotranspiration, and the atmosphere’s
radiative balance through the amount of sunlight reflected back to the sky (albedo). These
are just a few examples from a virtually inexhaustible list of complex interactions some of
which are poorly known or perhaps even unknown. Chapter 7 provides an assessment of
the present knowledge of physical climate processes and feedbacks, whilst Chapter 3
deals with biological feedbacks.
Any change, whether natural or anthropogenic, in the components of the climate
system and their interactions, or in the external forcing, may result in climate variations.
The following sections introduce various aspects of natural climate variations, followed by
an introduction to the human influence on the climate system.

The natural greenhouse effect

The atmosphere contains several trace gases which absorb and emit infrared
radiation. These so-called greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation, emitted by the
Earth’s surface, the atmosphere and clouds, except in a transparent part of the spectrum
called the “atmospheric window”, as shown in Figure 1.2. They emit in turn infrared
radiation in all directions including downward to the Earth’s surface. Thus greenhouse
gases trap heat within the atmosphere. This mechanism is called the natural greenhouse
effect. The net result is an upward transfer of infrared radiation from warmer levels near
the Earth’s surface to colder levels at higher altitudes. The infrared radiation is effectively
radiated back into space from an altitude with a temperature of, on average, −19°C, in
balance with the incoming radiation, whereas the Earth’s surface is kept at a much higher
temperature of on average 14°C. This effective emission temperature of −19°C
corresponds in mid-latitudes with a height of approximately 5km. Note that it is essential
for the greenhouse effect that the temperature of the lower atmosphere is not constant
(isothermal) but decreases with height. The natural greenhouse effect is part of the
energy balance of the Earth, as can be seen schematically in Figure 1.2.
 Clouds also play an important role in the Earth’s energy balance and in particular
in the natural greenhouse effect. Clouds absorb and emit infrared radiation and thus
contribute to warming the Earth’s surface, just like the greenhouse gases. On the other
hand, most clouds are bright reflectors of solar radiation and tend to cool the climate
system. The net average effect of the Earth’s cloud cover in the present climate is a slight
cooling: the reflection of radiation more than compensates for the greenhouse effect of
clouds. However this effect is highly variable, depending on height, type and optical
properties of clouds.
This introduction to the global energy balance and the natural greenhouse effect
is entirely in terms of the global mean and in radiative terms. However, for a full
understanding of the greenhouse effect and of its impact on the climate system,
dynamical feedbacks and energy transfer processes should also be taken into account.

What causes climate change?

At its most basic, climate change is caused by a change in the earth’s energy
balance — how much of the energy from the sun that enters the earth (and its
atmosphere) is released back into space. The earth is gaining energy as we reduce the
amount of solar energy that is reflected out to space — just like people gain weight if there
is an imbalance between calories in and calories out.
Since the Industrial Revolution started over 200 years ago, human activities have
added very large quantities of greenhouse gases (GHG) into Earth’s atmosphere. These
GHG act like a greenhouse (or a blanket or car windshield) to trap the sun’s energy and
heat, rather than letting it reflect back into space. When the concentration of GHG is too
high, too much heat is trapped, and the earth’s temperature rises outside the range of
natural variability. There are many GHG, each with a different ability to trap heat (known
as its “global warming potential”) and a different half-life in the atmosphere. GHG are
sometimes called “climate active pollutants” because most have additional effects, most
notably on human health.

Photo credit: Marinebio

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the GHG responsible for greatest amount of warming to
date. CO2 accounted for 82% of all human-caused GHG emissions in the U.S. in
2013.3 The majority of CO2 is released from the incomplete combustion of fossil
fuels - coal, oil, and gas — used for electricity production, transportation and
industrial processes. Together, these three activities account for more than 80% of
the CO2 released into the atmosphere.
Other important GHG include methane, nitrous oxide, black carbon, and various
fluorinated gases. Although these gases are emitted in smaller quantities than CO2,
they trap more heat in the atmosphere than CO2 does. The ability to trap heat is
measured as Global Warming Potential (GWP). As the most common and abundant
greenhouse gas, CO2 has a GWP of 1, so all other GHG warming potentials are
compared to it. Fluorinated gases, for example, have GWPs thousands of times
greater than CO2, meaning that pound-for-pound, these gases have a much
stronger impact on climate change than CO2.
Summary Table of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Name % of U.S. Sources Lifetime in the Atmosphere
GHG Global Warming
Emissions Potential (GWP)
2013

Approximately 50-200 years.

Carbon 82% Electricity production, 1
Poorly defined because CO2 is
Dioxide transportation, numerous
not destroyed over time; it
(CO2) industrial processes.
moves among different parts
of the ocean–atmosphere–
land system.

10% Livestock manure, food 12 years

Methane decomposition; extraction, 25
(CH4) distribution and use of natural
gas

Nitrous oxide
5% Vehicles, power plant emissions 115 years 298
(N2O)

Diesel engines, wildfires

Black carbon
>1% biomass in household cook Days to weeks 3,200
(soot, PM)
stoves (developing countries)

>5% No natural sources. These are PFCs: 2600 – 50,000 years PFCs: 7,000–12,000
Fluorinated synthetic pollutants found in HFCs: 1-270 years HFCs: 12–14,000
gases: PFCs, coolants, aerosols, pesticides, NF3: 740 years NF3: 17,2000
HFCs, NF3, solvents, fire extinguishers. SF6: 3200 years SF6: 22,800
SF6 Also used in the transmission
electricity.

Why Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Matter

The greenhouse gases with a high global warming potential but a short lifetime in
the atmosphere are called “short-lived climate pollutants” (SLCP). Key SLCP include
methane, black carbon, and the fluorinated gases. Because of the combination of a short
half-life and high GWP, the climate change impacts of the SLCP are front-loaded — more
of the impacts occur sooner, while the full weight of impacts from CO2 will be felt later.
 We must transition to carbon-free transportation and energy systems, because
CO2 remains the greatest contributor to climate change. But reducing emissions of short-
lived climate pollutants may “buy time” while we make the transition.
Reducing global levels of SLCP significantly by 2030 will:6
• Reduce the global rate of sea level rise by 20% by 2050
• Cut global warming in half, or 0.6° C, by 2050 and by 1.4° C by 2100
• Prevent 2.4 million premature deaths globally each year
• Improve health, especially for disadvantaged communities
Many strategies to reduce SLCP also have immediate health benefits, such as:
• Reducing air pollution related hospitalizations
• Promotion of reduced meat consumption
• Stricter emissions standards, especially for diesel vehicles
• Cleaner household cook stoves in developing nations

Climate change is causing five critical global environmental changes:7

• Warming temperature of the earth’s surface and the oceans: The earth has warmed at
a rate of 0.13° C per decade since 1957, almost twice as fast as its rate of warming
during the previous century.
• Changes in the global water cycle (‘hydrologic’ cycle): Over the past century there have
been distinct geographical changes in total annual precipitation, with some areas
experiencing severe and long-term drought and others experiencing increased annual
precipitation. Frequency and intensity of storms increases as the atmosphere warms
and is able to hold more water vapor.
• Declining glaciers and snowpack: Across the globe, nearly all glaciers are decreasing
in area, volume and mass. One billion people living in river watersheds fed by glaciers
and snowmelt are thus impacted.
• Sea level rise: Warmer water expands, so as oceans warm the increased volume of
water is causing sea level rise. Melting glaciers and snowpack also contribute to rising
seas.
• Ocean acidification: Oceans absorb about 25% of emitted CO2 from the atmosphere,
leading to acidification of seawater. These global changes result in what we
experience as changes in our local weather and climate:
• Greater variability, with “wetter wets”, “drier dries” and “hotter hots”
° More frequent and severe extreme heat events
° More severe droughts
° More intense precipitation, such as severe rains, winter storms and hurricanes
• Higher average temperatures and longer frost-free seasons
• Longer wildfire seasons and worse wildfires
• Loss of snowpack and earlier spring runoff
• Recurrent coastal flooding with high tides and storm surges
• More frequent and severe floods due to intense precipitation and spring snowmelt
• Worsening air quality: Higher temperatures increase production of ozone (a key
contributor to smog) and pollen, as well as increasing the risk of wildfires.
• Longer pollen seasons and more pollen production
There is a lot we can do about climate change. In general, climate solutions fall into two
big buckets — “mitigation” and “adaptation.” Increasingly, government and community
organizations also talk about measures to increase climate “resilience.” These concepts
are not distinct, and are all inter-related. From the Global Change Research Project:9
• Mitigation refers to “measures to reduce the amount and speed of future climate
change by reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases or removing carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere.”
• Adaptation refers to measures taken to reduce the harmful impacts of climate
change or take advantage of any beneficial opportunities through “adjustments in
natural or human systems.”
• Resilience means the “capability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and
recover from significant threats with minimum damage to social well-being, the
economy, and the environment.”
Mitigation

Mitigation is essential because scientists agree that the higher global temperatures
rise, the greater the adverse consequences of climate change. Also, if emissions are
unchecked, there is a greater danger of abrupt climate change or surpassing “tipping
points.” For example, collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could lead to very rapid
sea level rise, or melting of permafrost could lead to large releases of methane that would
further increase warming through a positive feedback loop.
Catastrophic climate change could surpass our capacity to adapt. For example, a
recent study suggests that heat levels in parts of the Middle East may exceed the body’s
survival threshold unless we reduce greenhouse gas emissions levels quickly.
There are many mitigation strategies that offer feasible and cost-effective ways to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These include the use of clean and renewable energy
for electricity production; walking, biking, and using low-carbon or zero emission vehicles;
reducing meat consumption; less flying; changing agricultural practices; limiting
deforestation; and planting trees.

Adaptation

Adaptation strategies are needed to reduce the harmful impacts of climate change
and allow communities to thrive in the face of climate change. The impacts of climate
change are already evident – in extreme weather, more explosive wildfires, higher
temperatures, and changes in the distribution of disease-carrying vectors. Because GHG
persist in the atmosphere for a long time, more serious climate impacts would be
experienced even if we halted all GHG emissions today.
Cool roofs, planting trees, and air conditioning are all effective adaptation strategies to
reduce the impacts of rising temperatures and more frequent heat waves. Seawalls and
restoration of wetlands are both strategies to address sea level rise. Emergency
preparedness planning that takes climate changes into account is one way to adapt to
the increased frequency of climate resilience: the capacity to anticipate, plan for and
reduce the dangers of the environmental and social changes brought about by climate
change, and to seize any opportunities associated with these changes.12 For more on
climate change resilience see Climate Change and Health Equity.

Climate and Health Co-Benefits

Although climate change is the greatest health challenge of our century, action to
address it has the potential for huge health benefits. Consideration of the health
and equity impacts of various mitigation and adaptation strategies can help
optimize the health benefits of climate action. For more information on the health
co-benefits of climate actions, see the following “Climate Action for Healthy People,
Healthy Places, Healthy Planet” briefs:

• Transportation, Climate Change and Health: Reducing vehicle miles traveled

through walking, biking, and public transit increases physical activity, significantly
reduces chronic disease risks and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

• Energy, Climate Change and Health: Switching from coal combustion to clean,
safe, renewable energy is one of the most important things we can do for our
health and for the climate.

• Food & Agriculture, Climate Change and Health: Shifting to healthy diets and
local, sustainable food and agriculture systems, offers significant health, climate,
and environmental benefits.

• Urban Greening & Green Infrastructure, Climate Change and Health: Urban
greening reduces the risk of heat illness and flooding, lowers energy costs, and
supports health. Green spaces provide places to be physically active and trees
sequester CO2, improve air quality, capture rainwater and replenish
groundwater.

Causes and Effects of Human-induced Climate Change

The following key ideas relate to the causes and effects of human-induced climate
change.

The potential for human activities to increase the temperature of the Earth through
greenhouse gas emissions has been described and calculated for over a century.
Volumes of scientific research across multiple scientific disciplines agree that humans are
warming the climate, and the 2013 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report states, "Human
influence on the climate system is clear. This is evident from the increasing greenhouse
gas concentrations in the atmosphere, positive radiative forcing, observed warming, and
understanding of the climate system." (From the IPCC AR5)

There is overwhelming evidence that human activities, especially burning fossil

fuels, are leading to increased levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere, which in turn amplify the natural greenhouse effect, causing the
temperature of the Earth's atmosphere, ocean, and land surface to increase. That
greenhouse gases "trap" infrared heat is well established through laboratory experiments
going back to 1856 when Eunice Foote first measured the effect.

The well-documented trend of increasing of CO2 in the atmosphere is caused

by the burning of fossil fuels and massive land cover changes. The "smoking gun" that
shows clearly that human activities are responsible for recent increases in carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere is provided by carbon isotopes (carbon atoms of different atomic
weight). These isotopes allow scientists to "fingerprint" the source of the carbon dioxide
molecules, which reveal that the increased CO2 in the atmosphere is caused by fossil
fuel burning (see references).

The human causes of climate change are some of the most important concepts
to teach. Due to the basic physics of heat-trapping gases and an exponential rise in
population and energy consumption, humans have become a force of nature. Clearly, this
is a topic with enormous political, socio-economic and emotional dimensions, but the
scientific results show clearly that:
• Human activities, particularly the combustion of fossil fuels, are altering the climate
system.
• Human-driven changes in land use and land cover such as deforestation,
urbanization, and shifts in vegetation patterns also alter the climate, resulting in
changes to the reflectivity of the Earth surface (albedo), emissions from burning
forests, urban heat island effects and changes in the natural water cycle.
• Because the primary cause of recent global climate change is human, the solutions
are also within the human domain.
• Because we understand the causes of climate change, that paves the way for
effective solutions to be developed and deployed. (Learn more about teaching
about solutions.)

How to Teach This to Your Future Students

The human impact on climate change is the most frequently misunderstood aspect of
climate science. Some sectors of the public continue to debate whether these ideas can
be true, despite the well-established science. There are several possible reasons why
students may resist the conclusion that humans are altering the climate. This concept
may be uncomfortable to students due to feelings of guilt, political resistance, or genuine
lack of scientific understanding. Furthermore, projections of the effects of climate change
on our society can frighten, overwhelm, or discourage students. This can result in denial
or resistance to learning. Furthermore, even if a student possesses a firm grasp of this
topic, it is nearly certain that at some point this knowledge will be challenged outside of
class. Building a solid and careful scientific argument is essential.

Educators are encouraged to introduce this topic with generous scaffolding that
establishes the foundations of the process of science, the underlying principles of climate
science, and a reliance on the robust scientific research that supports this conclusion.

It may be tempting to have a debate about this topic, but that may not be the most
effective way to characterize it. A debate suggests that there are two credible, opposing
viewpoints, when in fact the scientific community is virtually unanimous about the human
causes of climate change. Secondly, debating a topic can reinforce misconceptions and
cause unnecessary controversy in the classroom. That said, careful discussion of diverse
viewpoints is absolutely essential. Role playing can be one way to represent broad
perspectives, while maintaining scientific accuracy.

Bringing These Ideas Into Your Classroom

Carbon emissions have risen from less than 5 billion tons per year in the late 1950s to over 36 billion tons per year as of 2019. This graph shows a
breakdown of carbon emissions coming from each type of fuel, and much more information is available from the source: Our World in Data
https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-fuel.

Even though this topic can be a sensitive one, it is also an essential facet to understanding
climate change. Educators are urged not to shy away from the human role in shaping the
climate, but instead to approach it in a deliberate manner, with pacing and framing
intentionally designed to help your students understand the science and reconcile the
meaning.

• When possible, use data-driven explanations.

• Avoid assigning blame or judgement. As atmospheric scientist Scott Denning puts
it, CO2 traps heat "because of its molecular structure, not because capitalism is
evil. It's just bad luck!"
• Weave solutions into the discussion every step of the way. This prevents feelings
of hopelessness and shows the scientific and technical responses that are needed
to curb the worst effects of climate change.
• Foster a classroom environment where all perspectives are welcome. Invite
students to voice their doubts, fears, or uncertainties.