| 1 | <p>Scientists agree that the climate is changing and that human activities are a primary cause for this change through increased emissions of CO<sub>2</sub> and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. There have been times in Earth's past that temperature and CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations have been much higher than they currently are, so it is not just the actual temperature that is of concern to scientists, but the fact that the rate of change of temperature is unprecedented in the geologic record. We do not know how various factors will respond to such a rapid rate of change, and thus we anticipate that many species will not be able to adapt, leading to widespread extinction. In this module, students will explore how climate is changing from the recent record. They will then compare current patterns to pre-historic rates of change calculated from ice-core data and use their results to support whether or not human activity is likely to have influenced current climate change.</p>
| 1 | <p>Current climate change is affecting many aspects of the environment, with socio-economic consequences. For example, a warmer climate can allow new diseases to be introduced and persist (e.g. West Nile became established in the United States after an unusually warm winter allowed the mosquitos that carry the virus to survive and spread). We are concerned not only with the actual temperature but also with the rate that the temperature changes. Very rapid changes make it more likely that species (maybe even including humans!) cannot adapt and will go extinct. This multi-part activity was completed over 2 75-min classes and allows students to discover the relationships between CO<sub>2</sub> and temperature and how these variables have changed over time using real-world data.</p>
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