Climate Change

classroomconnection.ca

MY WORLD. MY CHANGE.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

CLIMATE CHANGE - MY WORLD. MY CHANGE. STUDENT ACTIVITIES 2

Climate Change – Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................3

Our Atmosphere – A Greenhouse Like No Other .....................................................................................................4

Climate Change ........................................................................................................................................................................................................5

Weather Or Climate .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

Climate Change From Natural Causes ....................................................................................................................................... 15

Climate Change And Human Activities .................................................................................................................................... 18

The Effect Of Climate Change Globally ....................................................................................................................................21

Effects Of Climate Change In Canada .........................................................................................................................................23

Climate Change And Mental Health .............................................................................................................................................26

Effect Of Climate Change On Tourism .......................................................................................................................................29

Why Is Climate Change Eating At Farmers? ......................................................................................................................31

Let’s Make Some Predictions ..................................................................................................................................................................31

Current Global And National Efforts To Reduce Causes Of Climate Change ......................33

Government’s Role In Reducing The Causes Of Climate Change .......................................................35

How To Do Our Part ...........................................................................................................................................................................................39

What Happens If We Don’t Reduce The Causes Of Climate Change? .........................................40

Would A Career In Climate Change Interest You? .....................................................................................................41

Climate ChangeTABLE OF CONTENTS

TOP

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

CLIMATE CHANGE - MY WORLD. MY CHANGE. STUDENT ACTIVITIES 8

Climate ChangeATMOSPHERE...

Climate ChangeATMOSPHERE...

So why is this a big deal? Virtually all scientists agree that the earth is getting warmer. We know that January 2016 set the record as the warmest January ever. Then February 2016 was recorded as the warmest month ever! Almost every year of the last ten set a record for warmest ever. With the cold winters we have, a few degrees milder weather might be quite nice. Warmer summers might mean we can grow crops never possible before. But there are some real downsides to this warming.

According to North American Space Agency (NASA), the EPA and other scientific and governmental bodies including National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), if global warming continues it will cause:

• significant climate change, • a rise in sea levels, • increasing oceanic acidification, • extreme weather events and • other severe natural and societal impacts.

Source: (http://www.livescience.com/37743-greenhouse-effect.html)

1. You already know the source of many greenhouse gases. What happened around 200-250 years ago that could account for such a rapid rise of these gases in the atmosphere (shown on the previous graph)?

2. The world’s population is growing, and our eating habits have changed. Today, we eat far more meat than we did in the past. How has the increased raising of cattle, hogs, and sheep contributed to climate change?

TOP

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

CLIMATE CHANGE - MY WORLD. MY CHANGE. STUDENT ACTIVITIES 12

There is a difference between climate and weather. Look out your window. Is it warm or cold, hot or freezing, raining or snowing? The sun or rain, clouds or clear sky are all part of our weather. It may be warm, mild or freezing cold today. The wind could be still, or blowing in a storm. That too is part of our daily weather. That weather can change every day. When we look at the weather over a few days, that is the weather pattern.

The chart below is from the Toronto Star. It tells us the weather we can expect for the next day, and the weather pattern for the next few days.

Climate ChangeWEATHER OR CLIMATE?

1. How would you describe your present weather to a friend in another city?

Whether the weather is hot, whether the weather is cool,

we'll weather the weather – whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.

>>WEATHER/COMICSTODAY’S FORECAST: Toronto downtown

Air Quality Toronto downtown today

P.O.P.: 60%Snow; 1-3 cm

RealFeel: -5Mostly cloudy

YESTERDAY TODAY YESTERDAY TODAYBarrie 3 lowBrampton 3 lowGuelph 3 lowHamilton 3 lowKitchener 3 low

Miss’auga 3 lowNewmarket 3 lowOshawa 3 lowSt. Cath. 3 lowToronto 3 low

ONTARIO TODAY THREE-DAY FORECASTSc-cloudys-sunny

pc-partly cloudysh-showers

t-thunderstormsr-rain

sf-snow flurriessn-snow

i-ice

Morning Afternoon Evening Overnight Tomorrow

-1RealFeel: -1Cloudy and breezy

5RealFeel: -2Mostly cloudy

3RealFeel: -2Rain and snow showers late

1P.O.P.: 40%Cloudy with snow showers

Tuesday

P.O.P.: 70%A couple of snow showers

Wednesday

P.O.P.: 60%A couple of snow showers

Thursday

P.O.P.: 30%Periods of clouds and sun

Friday

Banff -1/-6pc 3/-3c 6/-5pcCalgary 5/-3pc 11/1pc 13/1sChar’town 1/-11sn -5/-7sn -3/-5snChurchill -24/-26c -24/-30c -28/-32cEdmonton 0/-7pc 5/-4pc 6/-5pcFrederictn 1/-15pc -5/-8sn -1/-10snGoose Bay -17/-27c -18/-28pc -17/-19cHalifax 4/-7pc -2/-4sn -1/-4snIqaluit -29/-33c -27/-33c -27/-31cKamloops 4/-1sn 7/1c 7/1pcKelowna 4/-1pc 8/1pc 9/1pcMoncton 3/-14sn -5/-6sn -2/-7snMontreal 0/-8pc -4/-6c -2/-6snPrince Grg 2/0sn 4/-1c 5/-2pcQuebec -6/-15pc -9/-10pc -7/-10snRegina -2/-9pc -1/-4c 1/-5pcSaint John 2/-14pc -4/-7sn -1/-7snSt. John’s -1/-7sf -4/-5sf 0/-2snSaskatoon -2/-11s 0/-5c 2/-6cVancouver 8/6sh 12/4pc 13/7pcVictoria 8/5c 11/6pc 11/6pcWhistler 2/0c 6/-2pc 8/-2pcWhitehrse -7/-11c -5/-10sn -4/-10sWinnipeg -2/-16sn -11/-21c -17/-21pcYarmouth 5/-8pc -3/-6sn 0/-4snYellowknife -24/-31s -24/-26c -20/-31c

TODAY MON. TUES.CanadaOntario

Bancroft 1/-7sn -2/-9sn -2/-10sfBarrie 3/0c 2/-4sn 0/-7sfBracebridge 1/-2sn 0/-5sn -1/-10sfBrantford 5/0c 2/-3sn 2/-6sfCornwall 0/-9c -4/-8pc -3/-8sfDryden -3/-17sn -14/-25sn -20/-29pcGoderich 5/1c 3/-1sn 1/-6sfHamilton 5/2c 3/-2sn 3/-5sfHuntsville 1/-2sn -1/-7sn -3/-11sfKenora -2/-15sn -13/-22c -16/-22pcKingston 3/-4s 2/-4c 0/-6sfKitchener 4/0c 2/-3sn 1/-7sfLondon 5/0pc 3/-2sn 2/-7sfNiagara 6/1pc 4/-2sn 2/-4sfNorth Bay -3/-6sn -3/-8sn -4/-12sfOttawa -1/-8c -4/-8c -4/-8sfOwen Sound 4/-1c 3/-3sn 1/-8sfParry Sound 2/-1sn 1/-4sn -1/-9cPembroke -4/-8c -3/-9sn -4/-9sfPeterboro’ 4/-2c 2/-4sn 1/-7sfSudbury -3/-4sn -2/-6sn -5/-14cS. Ste Marie 2/-2sn 2/-7sn -6/-16snThunder Bay -1/-15sn -11/-20sn -16/-25cTimmins -13/-13sn -4/-12sn -9/-19sfTrenton 4/-2c 3/-3c 2/-5sfWindsor 7/0c 5/-2sf 1/-8c

TODAY MON. TUES.

4-2

-4-18

-8-12

-1-13

2-4

AIR QUALITY HEALTH INDEX

AccuWeather RealFeel‰ The exclusive AccuWeather composite index of effective temperature based on eight weather factors P.O.P: Probability of Precipitation

8 a.m. 2 p.m. 7 p.m. low

LOCAL FIVE-DAY FORECAST

Wind S 10-20 km/h Wind ESE 12-25 km/hWind E 10-20 km/hWind E 12-25 km/hWind SSE 25-35 km/h

Amsterdam 9/6sh 10/5sh 8/4shAnkara 2/-8s 3/-7s 5/-7sAthens 12/5pc 13/6pc 14/9sBelfast 7/3r 8/2r 6/1shBelgrade 13/3pc 14/6pc 17/8pcBerlin 11/5pc 10/5r 9/2shBrussels 9/6sh 10/5r 8/2shBudapest 10/3pc 11/5c 13/7pcCopenhagen 8/4r 7/3r 6/2shDublin 8/4r 8/2r 6/1shFrankfurt 10/5r 11/6r 9/2shGeneva 6/1r 10/7r 10/1rGlasgow 7/4r 8/3sh 7/1shHelsinki 4/1sh 4/2sh 4/1shKiev 3/-3s 4/-1pc 5/0sLisbon 15/12pc 15/12c 16/12shLondon 10/6sh 10/3sh 8/3cMadrid 11/4pc 13/8c 13/7shMoscow 0/-3sn 0/-3s 0/-2iOslo 4/1r 3/1r 4/-1shParis 10/7sh 11/6r 8/3shPrague 8/3pc 10/4c 10/2shRome 15/10r 15/9sh 15/10shStockholm 6/3c 6/2c 6/1shVienna 13/5pc 12/5c 13/5shWarsaw 9/5pc 11/7c 12/8pc

EuropeTODAY MON. TUES.

ON THE WEB• thestar.com• airqualityontario.com• mto.gov.on for roads

Auckland 26/18pc 25/18sh 24/19pcBangkok 27/15pc 27/17s 30/18sBeijing 8/-6s 12/-5s 9/-5sHong Kong 16/12s 17/14s 19/16sJakarta 30/24t 30/24t 31/24tKarachi 29/14pc 29/14s 28/15pcManila 28/24c 29/24s 30/25pcMumbai 28/20pc 30/22pc 31/23pcNew Delhi 20/9sh 21/10pc 23/9pcSeoul 2/-6s 6/-6c 5/-6sSingapore 30/26t 31/25t 29/26tSydney 26/19s 26/19s 26/19sTokyo 7/2pc 9/4s 12/3s

Acapulco 31/24pc 30/23s 29/23pcBermuda 22/19sh 22/18pc 22/19pcBelize City 24/13pc 24/15pc 25/15pcBogota 21/9pc 20/8c 20/8shBridgetown 29/25s 29/25s 29/25pcBuen. Aires 33/21pc 28/20t 32/19s

Cancun 24/15pc 24/15s 24/16pcCaracas 30/25s 31/24s 31/25sHavana 21/15pc 21/16s 22/17pcKingston 30/23pc 29/24pc 30/24pcLima 30/24pc 30/24pc 29/24cMexico City 21/3pc 22/5pc 17/4pc

Nassau 24/16sh 24/17s 26/17pcPuerto Plata 31/20pc 28/20sh 31/21pcRio de Jan. 32/24s 33/25s 35/26sSantiago 29/12s 30/14s 33/14sS. Domingo 30/21pc 31/21pc 30/20pcSan Jose 27/18s 28/19pc 26/18pc

Caribbean & Latin America

Asia-PacificAnchorage -2/-4c 0/-3sf 0/-7pcAspen 3/-13s 4/-12s 7/-11sAtlanta 13/3s 10/-1r 4/-3pcAtlantic City 9/1pc 7/0c 7/-3cBaltimore 9/-2pc 7/0c 5/-3cBoston 7/0s 0/-4sn 2/-3snChicago 7/-3c 1/-8sn -5/-13sfDallas 18/4s 14/1s 19/4sHonolulu 24/17s 24/17s 26/18pcHouston 18/6s 16/2s 18/5sLas Vegas 20/7s 21/7s 21/7sLos Angeles 32/14s 28/13s 29/11sMiami 18/7s 19/13pc 20/11pcMyrtle Bch 6/1r 14/2r 7/-2pcNew Orl’ns 16/7s 16/5s 13/5sNew York 8/2s 4/-2sn 4/-1snOrlando 14/4pc 18/7s 15/4pcPalm Beach 16/6s 18/10pc 18/9pcPhiladelphia 10/1pc 7/1c 5/-2snPittsburgh 9/-1s 5/-4sn 2/-7sfSalt Lake 3/-4s 4/-3s 5/-3sSan Fran 19/10s 20/10s 20/10sSt. Louis 11/0pc 1/-6sf -1/-9pcTampa 15/7s 18/10pc 16/8pcWash., DC 10/0pc 8/2c 6/-1cWichita 12/-1pc 7/-3pc 12/-2s

United StatesTODAY MON. TUES. TODAY MON. TUES.

Amman 8/4sh 11/4pc 14/4sBaghdad 16/7sh 16/5s 17/6pcBeirut 15/10sh 16/10pc 17/12sCairo 15/8c 17/8pc 18/9sDakar 31/23pc 31/22pc 30/21pcHarare 29/15pc 28/15t 26/14tJerusalem 8/3sh 9/2pc 12/2sJo’burg 29/14pc 25/15t 25/15tLagos 32/25pc 32/24s 33/24sNairobi 28/16s 28/16c 26/17tRiyadh 27/10s 22/7s 20/6s

Africa, Middle East

Forecasts and maps provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016

Local Almanac

New: Feb. 8

Half: Feb. 15

Full: Feb. 22

Last: Mar. 1

TEMPERATURENormal high: -1.4 Record: 9.4 in 1938Normal low: -9.9 Record: -25.0 in 1967Yesterday: 2.8/-2.2

SUNRises today: 7:29 a.m.Sets today: 5:37 p.m.Rises Mon.: 7:28 a.m.

MOONRises today: 6:32 a.m.Sets today: 4:54 p.m.Rises Mon.: 7:15 a.m.

PRECIPITATIONOutlook today: 0 mm Record: 18.5, 1942Yesterday*: Trace Record: 17.8, 1964Year to date: 45.2 mm*24 hours through 5 p.m.

HIGH 6 LOW 1 Live updates at

Pearson airport

HAMILTON: 5/2 Mostly cloudy and breezy. Rather cloudy tonight.

OSHAWA: 4/1 Mostly cloudy and breezy. Mostly cloudy tonight.

NIAGARA: 6/1 Breezy with thickening clouds. Cloudy tonight.

BARRIE: 3/0 A rain or snow shower. A little snow tonight.

KAWARTHAS: 3/-1 Mostly cloudy and breezy. Mostly cloudy tonight.

ORANGEVILLE: 4/0 Cloudy and breezy with a flurry. Mostly cloudy tonight.

KITCHENER: 4/0 Mostly cloudy and breezy. Snow tonight.

COTTAGE COUNTRY: 1/-2 Snow, accumulating 2-4 cm. Snow tonight with no accumulation.

Blue Mountain Granular 38/42 CloudyHockley Valley Granular 14/15 SnowHorseshoe Granular 25/25 CloudyMt. St. Louis Granular 36/36 SnowSnow Valley Granular 20/20 CloudySOURCE: skiontario.ca

RUNS TODAY’S CONDITIONS OPEN FORECAST

Ski Conditions

World’s Worst Weather

World’s Worst Weather appears Sunday

Canada: Moisture continued to stream onshore in western Canada with heavy rain on Thursday and Friday. On Fri-day, Estevan Point in British Columbia had over 125 mm.

S8⎮TORONTO STAR SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2016 ON ON0

TOP

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

CLIMATE CHANGE - MY WORLD. MY CHANGE. STUDENT ACTIVITIES 21

Climate ChangeGLOBAL EFFECTS

THE EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE GLOBALLY“So, the Earth’s average temperature has increased about 1 degree Fahrenheit during the 20th century. What’s the big deal? One degree may sound like a small amount, but it’s an unusual event in our planet’s recent history. Earth’s climate record, preserved in tree rings, ice cores, and coral reefs shows that the global average temperature is stable over long periods of time.” (http://climate.nasa.gov/effects/)

The David Suzuki Foundations reports that, “Climate change is already having a significant impact on ecosystems, economies and communities. Rising average temperatures do not simply mean balmier winters. Some regions will experience more extreme heat while others may cool slightly. Flooding, drought and intense summer heat could result. Violent storms and other extreme weather events could also result from the increased energy stored in our warming atmosphere. One of the most serious impacts of climate change is how it will affect water resources around the world. Water is intimately tied to other resource and social issues such as food supply, health, industry, transportation and ecosystem integrity.”

Global temperatures have risen (see previous graph) in the last 150 years, and most of that increase has happened in the last 40 years. Ten of the warmest years in modern times have happened in the last twelve years. NASA just announced that January 2016 was the warmest January since the 1880s.

The world’s oceans act as a “heat sink”. That means they absorb heat from the atmosphere, and help even out temperatures. However, despite the huge mass of the water in the oceans, the oceans are warming up too.

One immediate effect of this warming trend is rising sea levels. In the last century, global sea levels rose about 17cm; double that of the previous hundred years, according to NASA. As the oceans warm up, hurricanes will become more common. Seventeen centimetres may not sound like much, but add to that the increased storms and high tides. Many low-lying areas are now much more likely to flood during storms. Many island nations, like Vanuatu, are only a few meters above ocean level, and may disappear completely.

Cities like London and St. Petersburg have built barriers to protect themselves from flooding caused by storm surges and rising sea levels.

Warmer oceans create other problems. Many organisms depend on some very specific conditions to survive. As the water becomes too warm, they die, and all the fish and other marine life that depend on them starve.

Warmer temperatures on land will also create problems. Diseases will spread more easily as tropical and subtropical mosquitoes and disease-spreading organisms move further north and south. Warmer temperatures mean more storms. They will also harm forests, which depend on a particular range of temperatures and precipitation to survive.

TOP

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

CLIMATE CHANGE - MY WORLD. MY CHANGE. STUDENT ACTIVITIES 23

Climate ChangeCHANGE IN CANADA

Scientists use the term “Climate Change” because global temperatures will not rise everywhere by the same amount. Some areas may even get colder. Canada’s east coast has shown only slow warming since 1948, less than 1°C, (Environment Canada) while central and northern Canada’s temperatures increased by 2°C or more.

Canada has about 10 per cent of the world’s forest, but these are among the most vulnerable in the world. CO2 means

faster growth but heating will reduce the available moisture. The warmer weather, and especially the milder winters, mean pests survive better. Cold winters killed off much of the pine beetles in British Columbia – now they often survive and breed. Pine beetles in BC have killed some 50 per cent of commercially useable timber in the last few years. Drier climate will mean more forest fires, further damaging Canada’s northern forests.

Climate change has already added to severe weather events in Canada. We have had more severe storms, more long drought and heat episodes than usual in the last two decades.

Warmer oceans have already damaged the fisheries on the West Coast, especially of salmon. They require cold fresh water streams to spawn, and cool ocean waters to grow. Warming reduces their survival rates.

Water resources in Canada are at risk. Warmer weather means more evaporation and less precipitation. Scientists predict we will see water levels in the Great Lakes and other lakes in the Canadian Shield drop. Canada has the largest reserves of fresh water in the world, so this is important.

Glaciers around the world are melting, and not being rebuilt by winter snows. In Canada, glaciers provide much fresh water for rivers flowing throughout the prairies and to the North. We can measure the reduction of the ice fields in the Rockies. Studies show that the annual snows are not enough to rebuild them.

EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN CANADA

1. The melt-water from these glaciers is the main source of water for rivers in the western provinces and the North. What effect will the melting glaciers have on these rivers?

2. How will warmer temperatures in the Prairie Provinces make matters worse?

TOP

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

CLIMATE CHANGE - MY WORLD. MY CHANGE. STUDENT ACTIVITIES 26

KEY POINTS:TEXT:

Climate ChangeMENTAL HEALTH

Read the following texts, underline the key words or names and summarize the main points of the paragraphs in the space provided beside each paragraph.

Aboriginal leaders are warning of the mental health cost of climate change in the North(By: Tyler Hamilton Climate and Economy Reporter, Published on Mon Feb 29 2016) http://www.thestar.com/search.html?q=Aboriginal+leaders+are+warning+of +the+mental+health+cost+of+climate+change+in+the+North

It’s mid-February and the ice roads into and out of Deer Lake First Nation still aren’t reliable enough to officially open, a reality that weighs heavily on the minds of residents. “It’s very late. It’s bad. We want to get our stuff, our supplies, housing materials, fuel. I don’t know if we’ll be able to get it this year (by road),” said chief Roy Dale Meekis. “You feel isolated.”

Anxieties are high in this small Oji-Cree community, located about 700 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay. An unusually warm winter in Ontario’s north — what’s expected to become the new norm in a changing climate — has left the roads unstable and unsafe, and kept local road groomers out of work.

More supplies have to come by air, meaning higher costs for food, diesel fuel, medicines and bottled water in a community that has been under a drinking water advisory since 2001. To reduce demand for fuel, Deer Lake recently installed a 624-panel solar system to power the school. It helps, but doesn’t address the isolation.

TOP

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

CLIMATE CHANGE - MY WORLD. MY CHANGE. STUDENT ACTIVITIES 31

Climate ChangeFARMING

If climate change only made Canada warmer, it would not be so bad. However, it also makes the weather much more unpredictable and more extreme. Farming is a large part of Canada’s economy, worth over $100 billion each year.

You know the source of many greenhouse gases and you know what needs to be done to reduce emissions. Methane is one concern.

(Tyler Hamilton Climate and Economy Reporter, Published on Sun Feb 28 2016)http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/02/28/for-normally-stoic-farmers-the-stress-of-climate-change-can-be-too-much-to-bear.html

1. What effect will the unpredictable weather have on farmers in Canada and elsewhere in the world?

1. There are some 4 million beef cattle and some 26 million pigs raised in Canada each year. They are a major source of methane. What effect might efforts to limit climate change have on beef and pork producers?

2. What effect will the harder farming conditions have on people living in cities?

WHY IS CLIMATE CHANGE EATING AT THE FARMERS?

LET’S MAKE SOME PREDICTIONS

TOP

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED

SAMPLE PAGES

NOT TO BE

REPRODUCED