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Teaching the impacts of climate change is supported by six key concepts:

a. Melting of ice sheets and glaciers, combined with the thermal expansion of seawater as the oceans warm, is causing sea level to rise. Seawater is beginning to move onto low-lying land, contaminating coastal fresh water sources, and gradually submerging coastal facilities and barrier islands. Sea-level rise increases the risk of damage to homes and buildings from storm surges such as those that accompany hurricanes.

These ideas relate to the current and predicted consequences of climate change.

Most people are aware of the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, which is what climate scientists predicted for a warming world. The impacts of climate change on humans and environmental systems have become a focus for resource managers, medical professionals, emergency managers, insurance companies, and military planners. A great challenge of the 21st century will be to prepare communities to adapt to climate change while reducing human impacts on the climate system (known as mitigation). Additional factors such as poverty, a lack of resources, the absence of political will, and the necessity for nations to work together add further complexity to this challenge. Many jobs and industries will be affected by the changes that are happening or are anticipated for the future.

Climate change has profound impacts at home and afar, today and in the future

The importance of this principle is readily apparent: our climate is changing and so is our world. Symptoms of climate change are all around us: extreme weather, diminishing sea ice, year after year of record-breaking warmth, drought, fires, and stress to ecosystems. Many of these consequences will create hardship for humans. Some key points are:

  • The impacts of human-caused climate change are already being seen, from polar regions, to our backyards, to communities around the world.
  • Consequences of climate change will affect the biosphere on many levels, from coral bleaching, to dying forests, to species extinction.
  • Human infrastructure is threatened by a changing climate, such as encroachment of coastlines, stress to the energy grid, and shifting structures as a result of melting permafrost.
  • A warming climate threatens mountain snowpacks, fresh water supplies, and hydropower that serve millions of people.
  • Changes in climate and precipitation patterns are impacting agriculture and food security.
  • Populations that are already vulnerable in terms of sea level rise and food security are poised for the greatest hardships. Political unrest, migration of refugees, and global economic impacts are all visible outcomes. Some of these effects are already evident.

Helping students understand these ideas

Educators know that linking classroom topics to relevant news is a powerful way to engage students. The impacts of climate change are all too easy to find, but nonetheless using a local example is an effective way to draw students into the topic and help them unravel the science.

Keep in mind that alarming students and the public about the impact of climate hazards, such as droughts and extreme events, can be counter-productive and cause people to ignore the warnings, feel hopeless, or succumb to denial. However, glossing over the severity of the impacts and the enormous social and environmental ramifications of climate change can lead to a society that is ill-prepared to deal with change. Finding a balanced approach and avoiding a "despair deficit" is clearly a good practice, both inside and outside of the classroom.

Another challenge for fostering public awareness for the consequences of climate change is that many of the effects are far away and may not directly touch the lives of our students in an obvious way. Two solutions to this are to use local data and examples to examine climate changes that affect your region, or to employ a case study approach that will allow students to gain a deeper sense of how these impacts will profoundly affect people and ecosystems in faraway areas.


Bringing these ideas into your classroom

Here are a few pedagogic strategies for teaching about climate impacts.

  • Because climate change affects so many parts of our lives, the theme can be woven into a range of topics throughout a course or a unit. Subjects such as history, economics, or health can all touch on climate change. Climate impacts needn't only be addressed within the specific context of an earth science class.
  • Student teams can investigate climate impacts on different parts of the earth system. Teams could learn how climate is affecting the cryosphere, coral reefs, birds, forests, native peoples, agriculture, transportation, diseases, national security, and many other avenues.
  • A geographic approach could be used to examine impacts in different parts of the world.
  • Students could write or read narrative stories about how climate affects people.
  • Students could use imaginary time travel to visit the climate of the future, which would vary depending on actions we take today.
  • Students could use local climate data such as temperature, snowfall, and streamflow. Similarly, students could learn about economic impacts such as maple syrup production, crop yields, and winter recreation.
  • Role-playing activities could be used to explore how the climate affects people in different walks of life such as farmers, construction workers, insurance agents, or pilots.

Integrating Solutions

When teaching about climate impacts, it's also a good idea to touch on solutions to climate change. Ideally, students can feel informed and empowered, rather than discouraged about the world's problems. Some possibilities include:

  • Draw on case studies showing successful emissions reduction strategies.
  • Explore adaptation strategies for humans, plants, and animals.
  • Create an atmosphere of creativity and problem-solving as we all strive to meet this grand challenge.
  • These ideas are discussed more fully on the next page, Humans can take action to reduce climate change and its impacts.


Teaching materials from the CLEAN collection

These concepts are well-represented in the CLEAN resources. One way to narrow the search is to look for a specific type of impact like melting ice and permafrost, sea-level rise, extreme weather, or impacts to plants and animals. Alternatively, you can search by regions, like the US Southwest or US coastal areas.

Despite the best efforts of the CLEAN team to keep our teaching materials up-to-date, impacts to the climate system are changing rapidly. Be sure to seek up-to-date graphics and data to supplement some of these activities.

Middle school

  • Loss of Arctic sea ice has been making a lot of headlines. The Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes lesson plan allows students to analyze and explore this topic with graphing and hands-on activities.
  • What if the Ice Shelves Melted? - This hands-on lesson from ANDRILL involves making a model of Antarctica and then using their model to explore the impact of potential ice shelf melting and break-up.
  • Investigating Coral Bleaching Using Real Data - This sequence of 5 activities uses real-world data to understand how scientists monitor coral bleaching events.
  • Ten Signs of a Warming World is an interactive website that provides descriptive information and data related to ten compelling climate indicators.


High school

College


Find activities and visuals for teaching this topic

Search by grade level: middle school high school intro college upper college search all grade levels

References

Fourth National Climate Assessment Report - Published in 2018, this report focuses on the impacts of climate change. This is an ideal "one-stop-shop" for information, data, and reusable graphics on the effects of climate change.

2014 National Climate Assessment Report summarizes the impacts of climate change on the United States, now and in the future. The report can be explored by region and uses clear, simple messages to streamline the findings.

The Effects of Climate Change from NASA - Short explanations of the major effects of climate change, with links to a deeper dive.

How Much is Sea Level Rising? - This page from the Skeptical Science website provides clear answers to common questions and misunderstandings about climate change.

Arctic Climate Impact Assessment from the Union of Concerned Scientists, this article describes observed climatic changes as well as predicted impacts. Topics include sea ice, ecosystems, albedo and sea level rise.

Additional Resources

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Inclusive Climate Teaching Guidance