I've not researched this topic as much as I maybe should have. I do think the question should be what will happen if the polar caps continue to melt. Some research says the contraction of the Arctic ice cap is accelerating global warming. Snow and ice usually form a protective, cooling layer over the Arctic. When that covering melts, the earth absorbs more sunlight and gets hotter. In addition to this, Melting glaciers and land-based ice sheets also contribute to rising sea levels, threatening low-lying areas around the globe with beach erosion, coastal flooding, and contamination of freshwater supplies. Rising seas would severely impact the United States as well. Scientists project as much as a 3-foot sea-level rise by 2100. According to a 2001 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study, this increase would inundate some 22,400 square miles of land along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, primarily in Louisiana, Texas, Florida and North Carolina (NRDC.ORG)
It's apparent the melting caps present a major concern. As educators we can develop lessons which analyze this information and have students determine what can be done to reverse the trend. Lessons can be adapted from elementary to the most advanced college level classrooms. This is a worldly issue which must be discussed, debated and studied.
http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/qthinice.asp
Chris,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a good point about weather changes. I didn't even think about that as I was posting. Yet, now that I read your post and think about what has happened here in South Carolina with the weather since February of 2010, your questions make since. We had a snow in Feburary 2010, a snow in December 2010, and just a few weeks ago a snow/ice storm in January 2011. This is very unsual weather for the south, especially South Carolina. The issue of the ice caps melting does bring to mind the question of how is this phenomenon affecting our weather? Thanks for the information Chris and thanks for giving me something else to consider.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that we need to educate our students on this topic. This is the one issue that will directly affect them more in their lifetimes, rather than us. I often wonder how to do that with third graders without having them go home in fear that the world is going to end.
Ana
Teaching students about these issue is very important so that can be informed and make choices as they become adults that work in places that can make a difference.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with Ana that teachers also need to not send home students that are afraid of the world ending!
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that there is something going on with global warming. What you've seen may be a worse-case scenario- I took a look at the Trustees of the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC- some of your research was based on their findings)and it seems to me that most are not necessarily scientists, but environmentalists, conservationists and the occasional actor or musician (Leonard DiCaprio, Robert Redford and James Taylor for example).
Have you had a chance to look at the research done by the International Panel on Climate Change Climate Change (IPCC)? They suggest that we ARE seeing global warming but claim that the extent is not predictable at this point. There could be an increase in world temperatures anywhere from 1 to 5 degrees in the next few years.
Which brings me around to answering your questions- Our students will have no awareness of this issue unless we share our findings with them. They are the people that will live with the repercussions of global warming - and we need to help them create the tools they will need in order to cope with this inevitable change.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteI like the picture you put in your blog. Sometimes its hard to understand just how big the area is that we're talking about. But to see just how much change there has been in the last few years is amazing.
I too wonder how much global warming has effected the weather. I live in the midwest (Iowa) and this year we have had no snow days yet which is odd for us and as I watch the weather I see how much snow the NE is getting. It's amazing, it seems like every storm brings feet of snow not just inches.
I too think its important to educate our students on this topic beause like you said if there is suppose to be a 3 foot rise in sea level but not until 2100, some students might view it as oh that wont affect me. We need to get them out of that mindset and work towards prevention not just recovery.
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ReplyDeleteChris - Loved Your Post,
ReplyDeleteYou so have a point to question the idea of Global warming and its effects. I have seen on the news how much it has been snowing in your area. But I would like to tell you about the south and date myself a little bit. I live maybe 50 miles from the Florida line and in my life time of 28 years it has snowed and stuck to the ground three times. Once when I was seven, and twice in the past two years, keeping in mind that the snow on the ground did not last more than 12 hours but its strange and almost odd with the constant ideas and theories of Global Warming. Maybe Global Warming means that we will have colder wetter winters but the ice caps and glaciers will continuously melt? I do not know.