Global Climate Change: The Effects of Global Warming Name: EN

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1 Global Climate Change: The Effects of Global Warming Name: EN CO 2 Concentrations at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaiʻi The current practice of burning fossil fuels to provide energy for transportation, heating, cooking, electricity, and manufacturing adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere more rapidly than it is removed. The result, most climate experts agree, is an intensification of the greenhouse effect and an increase in global temperatures. This document, adapted from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, plots an increase in atmospheric CO 2 concentrations since Analysis of the Mauna Loa record shows that the mean annual concentration of CO 2 has increased 19.4 percent in 45 years, from parts per million by volume (ppmv) in 1959 to ppmv in During that time, the average annual increase was 1.4 ppmv, with the largest annual growth rate of 2.87 ppmv occurring between 1997 and Why do you think average carbon dioxide levels increased each year represented in the graph? 2. Explain why the concentrations of CO 2 show a yearly zig-zag pattern. 3. Why is the island of Hawaiʻi one of the more ideal locations for collecting atmospheric CO 2 as a model of the concentration for the world? 4. How does the data collected at Mauna Loa tie in to scientists recent predictions about climate change and global warming?

2 Earth System: Ice and Global Warming 1. Discuss the factors that influence the balance between inputs and outputs to and from glaciers. 2. How does Ice affect the Earth system? 3. What is the most significant role by in the global climate System? 4. What is the rate of glacial recession? 5. How much has the temperature changed in the last 50 years in the Arctic Sea? 6. Imagine that in 2100 the sea level has risen two feet. What effects would this have on humans? List and explain as many impacts as possible.

3 Mountain of Ice: If the Ice Melts 1. What role does the Antarctic Ice Sheet play in climate? 2. What might cause the ice sheets to melt? 3. Explain how the melting of the ice sheet in Antarctica could cause a rise in sea levels in Florida. 4. If sea ice (frozen salt water that is floating in the Arctic and Antarctic oceans) melts, will the sea levels rise? Why or why not? 5. Imagine that you are the President of the United States. How would you prepare the United States for the melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet? Develop a scenario for coastal cities if either the East or West ice sheets were to melt. Consider which industries would suffer the most adverse effects?

4 Snapshot of U.S. Energy Use The majority of the world's harnessed energy comes from burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are limited, non-renewable resources formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals that have undergone chemical reactions over the course of millions of years. Since fossil fuels are being consumed faster than they are being produced, the resources that can be economically extracted will eventually run out. Although less than 5 percent of the world's 6.45 billion people live in the United States, this small population consumes roughly 25 percent of the world's fossil fuel resources. This means that each American uses five times more energy than the average person in the world. In contrast, individual sin underdeveloped nations use 0 to 10 percent of the energy used by the average person in the world. To learn about alternatives to fossil fuels, check out Energy Sources.To learn how the world's current use of fossil fuels is contributing to global warming, check out Your Carbon Dietand Climate Change 1. What are some of the energy sources used to meet humans ever-increasing demand for power? 2. What are some ways that we release CO 2 into the atmosphere every day? 3. Discuss how human energy usage impacts the global carbon cycle. 4. On the average, each person in the United States produces over 20 tons of CO 2 each year, and collectively this country produces 25 percent of all CO 2 released into the atmosphere worldwide. How can people or industries help reduce our contribution to this global problem? What are some ways you could reduce your own energy use? 5. Should the United States reduce its energy use? Why or why not?

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