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Resources for Teaching About Climate Change With The New York Times

Dozens of resources to help students understand why our planet is warming and what we can do to stop it.

By The Learning Network

How much do your students know about climate change — what causes it, what its consequences are and what we can do to stop it?

A 2022 report from the United Nations found that countries around the world are failing to live up to their commitments to fight climate change, pointing Earth toward a future marked by more intense flooding, wildfires, drought, heat waves and species extinction.

Young people in particular are feeling the effects — both physical and emotional — of a warming planet. In response to a writing prompt about extreme weather that has been intensified by climate change, teenagers told us about experiencing deadly heat waves in Washington, devastating hurricanes in North Carolina and even smoke from the California wildfires in Vermont. They’re also feeling the anxiety of facing a future that could be even worse: “How long do I have before the Earth becomes uninhabitable? I ask myself this every day,” one student wrote .

Over the years, we’ve created dozens of resources to help young people learn about climate change with New York Times articles, interactive quizzes, graphs, films and more. To mark this moment, we’re collecting 60 of them, along with selected recent Times reporting and Opinion pieces on the topic, all in one place.

To get you started, we’ve highlighted several of those resources and offered ideas for how you can use them in your classroom. Whether it’s a short video about a teenage climate activist, a math problem about electric vehicles, or a writing prompt about their diet’s carbon footprint, we hope these activities can get your students thinking and talking about climate change and inspire them to make a difference.

How are you teaching about the climate crisis, its consequences and its solutions? Let us know in the comments.

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How does global warming work?

Where does global warming occur in the atmosphere, why is global warming a social problem, where does global warming affect polar bears.

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Human activity affects global surface temperatures by changing Earth ’s radiative balance—the “give and take” between what comes in during the day and what Earth emits at night. Increases in greenhouse gases —i.e., trace gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that absorb heat energy emitted from Earth’s surface and reradiate it back—generated by industry and transportation cause the atmosphere to retain more heat, which increases temperatures and alters precipitation patterns.

Global warming, the phenomenon of increasing average air temperatures near Earth’s surface over the past one to two centuries, happens mostly in the troposphere , the lowest level of the atmosphere, which extends from Earth’s surface up to a height of 6–11 miles. This layer contains most of Earth’s clouds and is where living things and their habitats and weather primarily occur.

Continued global warming is expected to impact everything from energy use to water availability to crop productivity throughout the world. Poor countries and communities with limited abilities to adapt to these changes are expected to suffer disproportionately. Global warming is already being associated with increases in the incidence of severe and extreme weather, heavy flooding , and wildfires —phenomena that threaten homes, dams, transportation networks, and other facets of human infrastructure. Learn more about how the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, released in 2021, describes the social impacts of global warming.

Polar bears live in the Arctic , where they use the region’s ice floes as they hunt seals and other marine mammals . Temperature increases related to global warming have been the most pronounced at the poles, where they often make the difference between frozen and melted ice. Polar bears rely on small gaps in the ice to hunt their prey. As these gaps widen because of continued melting, prey capture has become more challenging for these animals.

Recent News

global warming , the phenomenon of increasing average air temperatures near the surface of Earth over the past one to two centuries. Climate scientists have since the mid-20th century gathered detailed observations of various weather phenomena (such as temperatures, precipitation , and storms) and of related influences on climate (such as ocean currents and the atmosphere’s chemical composition). These data indicate that Earth’s climate has changed over almost every conceivable timescale since the beginning of geologic time and that human activities since at least the beginning of the Industrial Revolution have a growing influence over the pace and extent of present-day climate change .

Giving voice to a growing conviction of most of the scientific community , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), published in 2021, noted that the best estimate of the increase in global average surface temperature between 1850 and 2019 was 1.07 °C (1.9 °F). An IPCC special report produced in 2018 noted that human beings and their activities have been responsible for a worldwide average temperature increase between 0.8 and 1.2 °C (1.4 and 2.2 °F) since preindustrial times, and most of the warming over the second half of the 20th century could be attributed to human activities.

AR6 produced a series of global climate predictions based on modeling five greenhouse gas emission scenarios that accounted for future emissions, mitigation (severity reduction) measures, and uncertainties in the model projections. Some of the main uncertainties include the precise role of feedback processes and the impacts of industrial pollutants known as aerosols , which may offset some warming. The lowest-emissions scenario, which assumed steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions beginning in 2015, predicted that the global mean surface temperature would increase between 1.0 and 1.8 °C (1.8 and 3.2 °F) by 2100 relative to the 1850–1900 average. This range stood in stark contrast to the highest-emissions scenario, which predicted that the mean surface temperature would rise between 3.3 and 5.7 °C (5.9 and 10.2 °F) by 2100 based on the assumption that greenhouse gas emissions would continue to increase throughout the 21st century. The intermediate-emissions scenario, which assumed that emissions would stabilize by 2050 before declining gradually, projected an increase of between 2.1 and 3.5 °C (3.8 and 6.3 °F) by 2100.

Many climate scientists agree that significant societal, economic, and ecological damage would result if the global average temperature rose by more than 2 °C (3.6 °F) in such a short time. Such damage would include increased extinction of many plant and animal species, shifts in patterns of agriculture , and rising sea levels. By 2015 all but a few national governments had begun the process of instituting carbon reduction plans as part of the Paris Agreement , a treaty designed to help countries keep global warming to 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) above preindustrial levels in order to avoid the worst of the predicted effects. Whereas authors of the 2018 special report noted that should carbon emissions continue at their present rate, the increase in average near-surface air temperature would reach 1.5 °C sometime between 2030 and 2052, authors of the AR6 report suggested that this threshold would be reached by 2041 at the latest.

The AR6 report also noted that the global average sea level had risen by some 20 cm (7.9 inches) between 1901 and 2018 and that sea level rose faster in the second half of the 20th century than in the first half. It also predicted, again depending on a wide range of scenarios, that the global average sea level would rise by different amounts by 2100 relative to the 1995–2014 average. Under the report’s lowest-emission scenario, sea level would rise by 28–55 cm (11–21.7 inches), whereas, under the intermediate emissions scenario, sea level would rise by 44–76 cm (17.3–29.9 inches). The highest-emissions scenario suggested that sea level would rise by 63–101 cm (24.8–39.8 inches) by 2100.

The scenarios referred to above depend mainly on future concentrations of certain trace gases, called greenhouse gases , that have been injected into the lower atmosphere in increasing amounts through the burning of fossil fuels for industry, transportation , and residential uses. Modern global warming is the result of an increase in magnitude of the so-called greenhouse effect , a warming of Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere caused by the presence of water vapour , carbon dioxide , methane , nitrous oxides , and other greenhouse gases. In 2014 the IPCC first reported that concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides in the atmosphere surpassed those found in ice cores dating back 800,000 years.

Of all these gases, carbon dioxide is the most important, both for its role in the greenhouse effect and for its role in the human economy. It has been estimated that, at the beginning of the industrial age in the mid-18th century, carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere were roughly 280 parts per million (ppm). By the end of 2022 they had risen to 419 ppm, and, if fossil fuels continue to be burned at current rates, they are projected to reach 550 ppm by the mid-21st century—essentially, a doubling of carbon dioxide concentrations in 300 years.

A vigorous debate is in progress over the extent and seriousness of rising surface temperatures, the effects of past and future warming on human life, and the need for action to reduce future warming and deal with its consequences. This article provides an overview of the scientific background related to the subject of global warming. It considers the causes of rising near-surface air temperatures, the influencing factors, the process of climate research and forecasting, and the possible ecological and social impacts of rising temperatures. For an overview of the public policy developments related to global warming occurring since the mid-20th century, see global warming policy . For a detailed description of Earth’s climate, its processes, and the responses of living things to its changing nature, see climate . For additional background on how Earth’s climate has changed throughout geologic time , see climatic variation and change . For a full description of Earth’s gaseous envelope, within which climate change and global warming occur, see atmosphere .

Climate Basics » Climate Classroom

Climate basics for kids.

This page will help you understand  the science  behind climate change,  the impacts  of a changing climate, and  how you can help slow climate change and prepare for it .  We’ve also created a  list of resources and activities  for educators and students of all ages.

The Science

Science paints a clear picture: Climate change is happening; it is caused mostly by humans; and it creates many serious and damaging effects. The primary cause of climate change is human activities – like driving cars, creating electricity, and cutting down forests – not natural changes in the climate. These human activities release gases into the atmosphere called greenhouse gases , which slowly warm the planet, creating climate change.

The climate is very complex, and there are still some things we don’t know about it. But through centuries of studies and experiments, we’ve been able to create a strong understanding of how the system works, and how humans are changing it.

The Greenhouse Effect

Imagine a greenhouse made of glass used to grow plants, like flowers and vegetables. The greenhouse keeps the plants inside warm even when it’s cold outside because it traps heat from the sun. The earth’s atmosphere acts like a greenhouse: When light from the sun passes through the atmosphere, some of it is absorbed by the Earth’s surface to heat it, but some heat is also trapped in our atmosphere by certain gases. These heat-trapping gases are called greenhouse gases, and they act like a blanket, keeping the earth warm. This greenhouse effect is a natural process that makes the planet comfortable to live.

But human activities are increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. One type of greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, has reached a level in our atmosphere that the Earth hasn’t seen for more than 400,000 years ! Plants, soils, and the ocean can absorb carbon dioxide, but they can’t keep up with all the extra greenhouse gases that we have been releasing. And some greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere for a long time, from hundreds to even thousands of years. All these gases are making things hotter than natural, so we need to stop producing them to avoid climate change.

The Greenhouse Effect Explained

National Park Service

Where do greenhouse gases come from?

Up until about 150 years ago, humans did not produce many greenhouse gases. That changed as the human population grew, we cut down forests to make way for cities and farms, and important inventions and technology, like in-home electricity and cars, transformed the way we live.

These inventions and technologies need energy. Some types of energy called fossil fuels — like coal, oil, and natural gas — have become important sources of that energy. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. We call the release of these gases emissions .

Today in the United States, electricity and transportation (cars, trucks, and planes) are responsible for almost 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. The rest comes from agriculture, industry – such as factories that make products we use – and from energy we use in our homes and businesses.

Learn more about U.S. greenhouse gas emissions here.

Greenhouse Gases

The most common types of greenhouse gases are:

• Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) : Carbon dioxide is the most common greenhouse gas created by human activities. It makes up 80 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Most carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere when fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) are burned for electricity and transportation, and because of other processes like making cement. Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored when it is absorbed by plants, soils, animals, and the ocean as part of the carbon cycle.

Learn more about how energy emissions are controlled in the United States.

• Methane (CH 4 ) : Methane is the next most common greenhouse gas emitted by human activities. It makes up 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Most methane emissions come from raising livestock (like cows), but methane is also released when coal, natural gas, and oil are produced and transported, and when organic waste (like food) decays in landfills. Methane is a stronger gas than carbon dioxide, meaning it creates more warming, but it stays in the atmosphere for a shorter time.

Learn more about how industrial greenhouse gases like methane are controlled in the United States.

• Nitrous Oxide (N 2 O) : Most nitrous oxide is emitted by agricultural activities, like applying fertilizer, but it also comes from industrial activities, burning fossil fuels, and other sources. It makes up 6 percent of U.S. greenhouse emissions. Nitrous oxide is even more powerful than methane and carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere.
• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) : Try saying these gases three times fast! They’re called “fluorinated gases” for short. These gases combined make up only 3 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. That may sound small, but they are very important to solving climate change because they stay in the atmosphere for a very long time (sometimes for thousands of years!) and are much more powerful warmers than all other gases. These gases are made by humans and are used to cool our refrigerators, freezers, buildings and cars.

U.S. Greenhouse Gases by Gas Type and Sector, 2021

In 2021, the United States emitted 6.3 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases (CO2e). Carbon dioxide accounted for the largest percentage of greenhouse gases (79%), followed by methane (13%), nitrous oxide (6%), and other greenhouse gases (3%). Total U.S. emissions for 2021 totaled 6,340 million metric tons of CO2e; net emissions, accounting for carbon sinks, totaled 5,586 million metric tons CO2e. Greenhouse gases are emitted by all sectors of the economy, including electric power (25% of total), transportation (28%), industry (23%), residential (6%), commercial (7%), and agriculture (10%).

Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 1990-2021 (EPA, 2023)

Impacts of a Changing Climate

Because of increases in greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures are rising. Each of the past four decades has been warmer than the previous one. 2016 and 2020 were the warmest years on record, and the six warmest years have all been  since 2010 .

Learn more about the relationship between extreme weather and climate change.

The following charts show how emissions and temperatures have gone up since 1900, and how they could continue to change in the future. If we continue to emit more and more greenhouse gases, the temperature of the Earth will rise a lot – maybe as much as 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100. Even if we reduce our emissions right now, the temperature of the Earth will still rise slightly, but we might be able to keep the rise below 2 degrees Celsius (or about 4.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Two degrees might not sound like much, but scientists agree that even that small amount of warming can have large impacts on humans and the environment.

Past and Projected Changes in Carbon Emissions and Temperature

Fourth National Climate Assessment (USGRP, 2018)

Rising global temperatures affect many things, like extreme weather , human health, food supply, and ecosystems. These impacts are already being felt today, and groups like the poor, elderly, and others are especially vulnerable.

Impacts of climate change include:

• Heat waves . Heat waves are long periods of time with temperatures that are hotter than normal. As the Earth warms, more areas will be at risk for hotter and more common extreme heat waves. Learn more about the link between  climate change and extreme heat .
• Heavy precipitation and storms . Heavy precipitation – like rain or snow – is becoming more common in many locations, which can lead to flooding and other dangerous weather. As seas warm, coastal storms like hurricanes are also becoming more frequent and damaging. Learn more about the link between climate change and  heavy precipitation and hurricanes .
• Sea level rise . Sea levels have risen about 8 inches since 1880 because glaciers and ice sheets are melting and seas are warming. Scientists predict that, with 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, sea levels could rise by as much as 1.8 feet this century, which would harm communities living on islands and near coasts. These rises could be even higher if glaciers in Greenland or Antarctica melt very quickly.
• Threats to habitats and animals . Warming temperatures, rising seas, melting ice, and other impacts of climate change can threaten the habitat of many plants and animals. Some species are moving to new habitats, but others may struggle to adapt and become endangered or extinct.
• Ocean acidification . Extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans, making them more acidic. This can make it difficult for corals and organisms that form shells to survive, which can create problems in the food chain for other sea animals.
• Wildfires . These are fires that burn large amounts of forests and brush. When they are not controlled, wildfires can destroy homes and be deadly. The number of large wildfires and the length of the season when they’re most likely and threatening have been increasing in recent years. Find out how climate change will  worsen wildfire conditions .
• Drought . A drought is a period with little rain and not enough water. Global warming will increase the risk of drought in some places and make it harder to grow food. Learn about the links between  climate change and drought .

The American pika, a roughly potato-sized relative of the rabbit, is one of many animals feeling the impacts of climate change. The pika lives on mountains in cool areas, but warmer temperatures can push the pika to higher and higher altitudes, where it’s cooler. Eventually, they may run out of space.

Pikas Disappearing from Parts of the West Due to Climate Change (USGS, 2015)

How can you help?

Even though climate change sounds scary, we still have time to avoid some of the worst impacts. Everyone can play a part, including government, businesses, and you.

There are two main things we need to do:

The first is to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change.  By choosing cleaner ways to power our homes, offices, and cars, and being more efficient and less wasteful, we can produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

There are lot of things you can do to help, like turning off the lights when you leave a room to reduce the electricity you use, walking or biking where you can, or planting trees to absorb carbon dioxide. If you do any of these things, make sure you communicate with other people (like your family, teachers, and friends) about why you’re doing them! Communication can inspire more people to change their habits and help save the climate.

Look for more ideas on what we can do  together  and  individually .

The second is to prepare for life in a changing climate.  Even if we could stop creating greenhouse gases tomorrow, the climate would still change some because of our past emissions. So we need to make sure our buildings, roads, businesses, and communities are ready for the climate changes that we can’t avoid. This includes things like helping cities on the coast prepare for floods, preventing wildfires in our forests, and more.

Learn  how communities and companies are preparing .

The power of YOUth

Around the world, young people are learning about climate change and taking action. In fact, young people are some of the most important voices in the climate movement because you can inspire powerful people to create a better future for you.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or a politician to make a difference in the fight against climate change. Whatever your talents are, there’s a role for you to play. Some young people, like Greta Thunberg , Vanessa Nakate , and others, are leading the Fridays for Future movement to tell their governments to create strong policies to fight climate change. Other students are inventing new technologies to cut emissions and reduce waste. And others are using their creativity to bring awareness to climate change by writing music and creating art .

You can also look for ways to get involved in your community – maybe you can help your school set up a composting program to keep food waste out of the landfill. Maybe your synagogue or mosque needs help switching to energy efficient lights. Maybe you can write a letter to your local government to encourage your community to prepare for extreme weather or wildfires. Everyone can do something to fight climate change.

Check out our  Educator Resources  page for activities you can do to learn more about how climate change works and how you can be a part of the solution.

C2ES thanks the Alcoa Foundation for its support, which allowed us to develop our Climate Classroom content. As a fully independent organization, C2ES is solely responsible for its positions, programs, and publications.

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Activities to teach kids about climate change

Climate change is a hot topic, and your kids probably have questions about it. But it’s not exactly the easiest issue to explain. Empower your children to understand not only what climate change is all about—but also what they can do to help. Here are videos, games, and crafts to get you started.

Start with the facts Not sure how to explain climate change? No problem! Check out our kid-friendly article and video that explain the science behind the greenhouse effect and how global warming is affecting the Earth. Then remind kids how awesome our planet is with this amazing photo gallery .

Empower them with tips and crafts Excite your kids about fighting climate change by playing the online game Recycle Roundup , then investigate ideas the whole family can do together to help save the planet. Whether they’re creatively resusing household items , waging a war on plastic , or decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, kids will feel empowered to make a difference.

Upcycling is a great way to keep trash out of landfills—and CO2 out of the atmosphere. Have your children grab an old pair of jeans and upcycle them into a lunch bag . ( Watch videos for more eco-friendly crafting tips .)

Inspire them to find their voice Your kids probably have something to say about climate change, so help their voices be heard. Use these letter-writing tips (pdf) to show them how to craft compelling letters asking for support from politicians and other leaders. Want to get the entire neighborhood involved? Work with your kids to start a petition. Get them ready to present their case to others by helping them research the topic (pdf) and practice public speaking (pdf).

Inspire kids to keep the Earth healthy by ditching single-use plastic items. They can make this DIY lunch bag instead of using plastic bags and boxes, which take up landfill space.

Let your kids know that everyday actions affect people, plants, and animals all over the world. Encourage them to be cool by doing their best to keep Earth, well, cool!

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Earth's Albedo and Global Warming

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio, USGS (US Geological Survey), NSIDC (National Snow and Ice Data Center)

This interactive visualization adapted from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey illustrates the concept of albedo, which is the measure of how much solar radiation is reflected from Earth's surface.

Notes from our reviewers

The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials .

• Teaching Tips This material could be used as homework or as discussion fodder.
• About the Science This interactive activity allows students to learn about how materials, such as snow, ice, and water, differ in their ability to reflect and absorb the sun's energy and how melting polar ice creates a positive feedback loop that accelerates global warming. Students investigate how the presence of pollution, such as soot, lowers the albedo of ice and further increases melting. In addition, they observe the decline in Arctic sea ice cover from 1979â2007 and the effect of melting ice on sea levels. Sea ice has further declined since this resource was produced. For updated conditions, visit the [link https://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ 'Arctic Sea Ice News'] page from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Comments from expert scientist: Gives a good clear overview of albedo, and importantly, the ice albedo feedback. Nicely steps from basic concept of albedo, to role of albedo in the climate system.
• About the Pedagogy This interactive visualization is an effective tool that could be used in a discussion or as homework. While not a very dynamic presentation, the visualization is effective.
• Technical Details/Ease of Use Images and text are courtesy of NASA/USGS, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Scientific Visualization Studio, and National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The visualization is downloadable (size = 43 MB). Background essay and discussion questions are provided.

What’s the difference between climate change and global warming?

The terms “global warming” and “climate change” are sometimes used interchangeably, but "global warming" is only one aspect of climate change.

“Global warming” refers to the long-term warming of the planet. Global temperature shows a well-documented rise since the early 20th century and most notably since the late 1970s. Worldwide since 1880, the average surface temperature has risen about 1 ° C (about 2 ° F), relative to the mid-20th century baseline (of 1951-1980). This is on top of about an additional 0.15 ° C of warming from between 1750 and 1880.

“Climate change” encompasses global warming, but refers to the broader range of changes that are happening to our planet. These include rising sea levels; shrinking mountain glaciers; accelerating ice melt in Greenland, Antarctica and the Arctic; and shifts in flower/plant blooming times. These are all consequences of warming, which is caused mainly by people burning fossil fuels and putting out heat-trapping gases into the air.

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ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Global warming.

The causes, effects, and complexities of global warming are important to understand so that we can fight for the health of our planet.

Earth Science, Climatology

Tennessee Power Plant

Ash spews from a coal-fueled power plant in New Johnsonville, Tennessee, United States.

Photograph by Emory Kristof/ National Geographic

Global warming is the long-term warming of the planet’s overall temperature. Though this warming trend has been going on for a long time, its pace has significantly increased in the last hundred years due to the burning of fossil fuels . As the human population has increased, so has the volume of fossil fuels burned. Fossil fuels include coal, oil, and natural gas, and burning them causes what is known as the “greenhouse effect” in Earth’s atmosphere.

The greenhouse effect is when the sun’s rays penetrate the atmosphere, but when that heat is reflected off the surface cannot escape back into space. Gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels prevent the heat from leaving the atmosphere. These greenhouse gasses are carbon dioxide , chlorofluorocarbons, water vapor , methane , and nitrous oxide . The excess heat in the atmosphere has caused the average global temperature to rise overtime, otherwise known as global warming.

Global warming has presented another issue called climate change. Sometimes these phrases are used interchangeably, however, they are different. Climate change refers to changes in weather patterns and growing seasons around the world. It also refers to sea level rise caused by the expansion of warmer seas and melting ice sheets and glaciers . Global warming causes climate change, which poses a serious threat to life on Earth in the forms of widespread flooding and extreme weather. Scientists continue to study global warming and its impact on Earth.

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In the face of global warming, students are dreaming up a better climate future

Lee V. Gaines

Bloomington High School South science teacher Kirstin Milks leads a lesson on human-caused climate change and technologies that could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Chris Elberfeld/WFYI hide caption

High school freshman DeWayne Murphy has a big idea for a new green technology.

“There's going to be a tank and it should be like a big giant metal tank,” he explains to climate scientist Ben Kravitz on a school day in May. “You fill it up with water, and the tank is going to heat up.”

The water will turn to steam, which will power a car. But it has some potential drawbacks.

Startups want to cool Earth by reflecting sunlight. There are few rules and big risks

“It's not really designed to take any damage, like at all, so you have to be like really gentle with it,” Murphy says.

“What I really like about that is steam’s kind of an old tech,” Kravitz tells him. “Steam works. We know that. So, yeah, that's a really cool idea.”

This conversation is part of a larger lesson about developing technologies that reduce planet-heating pollution. The lesson was created by Kravitz, an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Indiana University; his colleague Paul Goddard; and Kirstin Milks, DeWayne Murphy’s science teacher at Bloomington High School South in Bloomington, Ind.

With heat waves and extreme weather becoming more and more common, Milks wants to empower her students with information and the creative freedom to dream up big ideas for a better climate future.

“The fact is that climate change is the story of these young people's lives,” Milks says. “Our students need to know not just the stuff about it that is challenging and difficult, the stuff we hear about in the news, but also they need to see how change can happen. They need to feel like they understand and can actually make a difference in our shared future.”

Milks teaches her students the basic facts about human-caused climate change: that burning fossil fuels — like coal, oil and gas — is the biggest single driver of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide heats the planet, which has led to more frequent droughts, hurricanes, floods and intense heat waves.

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Kravitz says, “The only permanent solution to stopping that is reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.”

Scientists already know some technologies that could help. Solar and wind energy combined with big batteries are helping the world transition away from oil, coal and gas.

But Kravitz says the world isn’t moving fast enough. So he and other scientists are studying strategies to temporarily alter the Earth’s climate to reduce the effects of climate change. It’s known as climate engineering, or geoengineering .

Climate engineering covers a range of strategies, including reflecting sunlight back into space and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere . But these strategies can also pose significant risks — like disruptions to rain patterns and impacts on global crops. Meanwhile, there’s still little regulation over how these technologies might get used.

“The people who are going to be voting on whether to [pursue climate engineering], or even leading the charge, are sitting in high school classrooms right now,” Kravitz says. “So if they don’t know what this topic is, that’s a real problem. So that’s why we developed the lesson.”

Milks says she isn’t trying to persuade students to embrace climate engineering — rather, she wants to give them the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about it, if and when the time comes.

Students think up wild ideas, like covering the desert in glitter

Creativity is at the core of this lesson, Milks explains. After students learn the basics of climate engineering, they’re asked to “come up with interesting wild ideas” to slow global warming.

High school freshman DeWayne Murphy consults with Milks, his science teacher, on a classroom experiment. Chris Elberfeld/WFYI hide caption

At first, no idea is too out there, says Goddard, an assistant research scientist at Indiana University who helped develop the lesson.

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“As we progress along throughout the lessons, then we add more details, more constraints to their designs,” Goddard says.

In the first round of brainstorming, students imagined a solar-powered helicopter; artificial trees that store rainwater to help fight wildfires; and lots of ways to reflect light back into the atmosphere, like covering the desert in shiny glitter.

Next, students are asked to consider the potential limitations and risks to their ideas. Take glitter in the desert, for example:

“How are we going to make sure that the glitter doesn't get eaten by the rock pocket mouse … or like snakes and stuff?” Milks asks.

The student suggests making the glitter large and smooth enough so it won’t be eaten by animals or otherwise harm them.

For their final assignment, students present their concepts — including their anticipated benefits and risks — to Kravitz, Goddard and other scientists.

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High school junior Campbell Brown has an idea for a flying air filter that sucks carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and turns it into a harmless byproduct.

“It'll decrease the amount of greenhouse gases that are in the air,” she explains during her presentation. “The risks could be that it just doesn't work the way I want it to.”

Kravitz is impressed.

“So you want to know something? It does work,” he tells Brown. “The waste product that you get out of it is baking soda, essentially. So yeah, it works, it just can't be widely deployed right now because it's too expensive.”

Fostering climate optimism

Brown is thrilled that her idea is something scientists are currently studying, especially because she didn’t know much about climate change before this lesson.

Ben Kravitz, an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Indiana University, chats with high school students DeWayne Murphy and Emerald Yee during a class at Bloomington High School South. Chris Elberfeld/WFYI hide caption

She was saddened to learn how humans have contributed to climate change and its effects on the planet, but she says she’s leaving this lesson with a newfound sense of hope.

“Because rather than the old generation leaving something broken for us to fix, we're also getting help from that generation. And so that way, we're all helping each other out and fixing what we have caused,” she says.

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Emerald Yee, a senior in Milks’ class, has been concerned about climate change for a while. She has a family member with a chronic health condition that’s exacerbated by heat.

“So for me, I’m mainly just worried about [their] safety when it comes to climate change and global warming,” Yee says. She says this lesson gave her the tools to “really think about climate change and how we can change it and make it better for not just our generation, but the younger generations, our younger siblings, or even our kids and grandkids.”

For Kravitz, fostering climate optimism is a big part of this lesson. And he says hearing students’ ideas for solutions always makes him feel better.

“The neat thing about seeing all of these ideas come out of the classroom is it's not I can't do it . It's we can do it . Humans, when they get together, can do amazing things. And that's what gives me hope.”

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