In this section you will find materials that support the implementation of EarthComm, Chapter 5: Chapter Challenge.

Reference

Article 1: How Has Global Climate Changed Over Time?

The Meaning of Climate

Climate, National Geographic Encyclopedia
Looks at how the world’s climates can be divided into categories.

Examples of Past Climates

What is a Glacier?, National Snow and Ice Data Center
Provides information on glacial formation, movement, and associated landforms.

Investigating Climate Change of Western North America, USGS
Learn more about climate change and the study of the geological record for Western North America.

How Geologists Find Out about Past Climates

North American Drought: A Paleo Perspective, SERC Carlton Univ.
Explores paleoclimatic data and how it can provide information about past droughts.

Paleo Proxy Data, NOAA
Lists and describes the most widely-used proxy climate data types.

Paleoclimates and Pollen, UCAR
Information on the background, trends, and evidence of paleoclimates.

Biological Proxies - Spores and Pollen, USGS
Learn how these microscopic structures for plant reproduction can yield records of vegetation and community changes over time.

Why Study Ice Cores?, National Ice Core Laboratory (NSF ICF)
Includes a brief description about why ice cores are an important source of information.

Sea Sediments, Enviropedia
Learn more about sediments found on the sea floor and information that can be revealed by investigating these sediments.

About Tree Rings, University of Arizona
Overview of the dating and study of annual rings in trees, including what they tell us.

Article 2: Causes of Global Climate Change

Milankovitch Cycles

Paleoclimatology: Explaining the Evidence, NASA
Examines the connection between eccentricity, axial tilt, and precession in relation to past glaciations.

Milankovitch Cycles, U.S. Naval Observatory
Explains the role that the three different aspects of Milankovitch Cycles play in the seasons.

Plate Tectonics

Climate Changing Power of Plate Tectonics, Scientific American
Learn more about how moving continents have drastically changed Earth's climate.

Plate Tectonics and Climate Change, Open University
Looks at how plate tectonics affects important processes like the formation of mountains and the direction of ocean currents.

Climate Change - Plate Tectonics, Lyndon State College
Looks at how plate tectonics affect climate change.

Ocean Currents

How the Oceans Influence Climate, The Global Development Research Center
Looks at the influence of ocean circulation on climate.

Ocean Currents and Climate, USC
Learn more about the different oceanic currents and the role those currents play on climate change.

Carbon Dioxide and Other Greenhouse Gases

Global Climate Change FAQ, NASA
Provides descriptions of global warming and greenhouse gasses. Also contains several helpful links to other sites on greenhouse gasses.

U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory, EPA
View US emission data on greenhouse gases from 1990 through 2016.

Article 3: What is “Global Warming” and How Might It Affect Our Community?

Greenhouse Gases

Global Climate Change FAQ, NASA
Provides descriptions of global warming and greenhouse gasses. Also contains several helpful links to other sites on greenhouse gasses.

Humans and Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere

Climate FAQ, NASA
Provides descriptions of global warming and greenhouse gasses. Also contains several helpful links to other sites on greenhouse gasses.

Emissions of Greenhouse Gases Report, U.S. Energy Information Adminstration
Provides information on carbon dioxide emissions from US energy and industry.

Responding and Adapting to Climate Change, NASA
Provides information on mitigating and adapting to our changing climate.

Our Changing Planet, U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)
Examines initiatives to research and abate global warming.

Carbon Dioxide and Global Warming

Understanding the Global Carbon Cycle, Woods Hole Research Center
Reviews the basics of the global carbon cycle and how fossil fuels are linked to the cycle.

Effects of Global Warming

Climate Change and the Future

Future Climate Change, US Global Change Research Program
Describes projection of future climate based on the amount of heat trapping gases in the atmosphere.

Future of Climate Change, EPA
Examines what the future holds for the Earth with climate change.

Consequences of Climate Change, NASA
Describes results that scientists had predicted in the past would result from global climate change: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves.

Changes in Sea Level and Ocean Circulation

National Close-up: Science Talk, Washington Post
Glacial melting effects many systems in and surrounding our oceans. Reporters address typical questions regarding these relationships.

Climate Change, Variability and Prediction, NOAA
Find information on NOAA scientists' interpretations and predictions about sea level from high reolution models.