Forward: PK-12 Education as a pillar of the solution for bending the global warming curve
Author: V. Ram Ramanathan (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
Climate change is an urgent problem. Because it is causing new weather extremes and fatal catastrophes, climate change is better termed climate disruption. Bending the curve to flatten the upward trajectory of pollution emissions responsible for climate disruption is essential for protecting billions of people from this global threat. Education must become a pillar and an integral part of the solution.
On Climate Justice
Author: José G. González
Thus this discourse over what climate justice is, tends to center on the “human element” in terms of the “disparate impact,” the harmful unequal effects that result from a more chaotic and disrupted climate. This is not to discount the impact of climate change on all living things, but it does help to understand how “caring about the polar bears” is not sufficient in some cases and how focusing solely on cases such as that can be counterproductive if the impacts on marginalized human communities is ignored.
Equity in a Time of Socio-Environmental Justice
Author: Max Jiminez
When we talk about the education system and how it can be utilized as a tool to promote equity and fight for socio-environmental justice, I’m sure we are all wondering, what can this possibly look like?
How we Know Human CO2 Emissions are Causing Climate Change
Author: Ralph Keeling (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
Writer: Debbie Zmarzly
Humans have emitted such vast amounts of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) since we began burning fossil fuels 250 years ago that we have changed the composition of our atmosphere, increasing its CO 2 concentration by 46%. CO 2 packs a powerful punch because it acts like a blanket in the atmosphere, trapping heat and warming our planet.
Lesson Series Companion to How we Know Human CO2 Emissions are Causing Climate Change
Author: Crystal Howe (San Diego County Office of Education)
Specifically, the lesson series has students explore the chemistry of climate change by making sense of the phenomenon that modern changes in climate are the result of human carbon dioxide emissions.
Teaching climate change by leveraging scientific consensus to dispel social controversy
Author: Glenn Branch, (National Center for Science Education)
The resolution observes, correctly, that “there is a broad consensus among climate scientists that the human activities contributing to increases in greenhouse gas emissions are the dominant cause of climate change.”
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY: HOW WE KNOW EARTH’S CLIMATE HISTORY
Authors: Jane Teranes, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego,
Laura Trethewey, Science Communication Consultant, and Cheryl Peach, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
Despite a wealth of data indicating that the current rate of climate change is greater than at almost any time in recent Earth history, a lack of knowledge about Earth’s natural climate variability is fueling climate change skepticism. This paper outlines the major factors controlling Earth’s climate, how paleoclimate proxy records are employed to understand past climate, and why the current rate of climate change is alarming. Using five graphs that display paleoclimate proxies over a range of time scales, from billions to thousands of years, the current trend of increasing temperature and is examined in light of what we have learned from the past.
