August 22, 2017

State of the Climate should have you #Teach4Climate

Posted by Laura Guertin

The State of the Climate Report for 2016 is out (see press release and full report). This annual report was produced by over 500 scientists in over 60 countries – a true collaboration and gathering of data and expertise. The Executive Summary is only 10 pages and worth the read to be up-to-speed with any questions students may have at the start of the semester. Some highlights include: new highs were set for surface temperature and carbon dioxide concentration; the increase in CO2 concentration was the largest in the nearly six-decade observational record; global average carbon dioxide concentrations exceeded 400 parts per million for the first time in at least 800,000 years; a strong, but fading El Niño contributed to temperature and rainfall extremes, including record-setting drought; new records were set for sea level and sea-surface temperature.

 


 

NOAA has a message for educators (you could say the message is for everyone, really):

Today’s generation is the first generation to feel the impacts of climate change and the last that can really do something about it. Teaching young people about climate change – its causes, effects, and what we can do about it – is vital. Addressing climate change is a multi-generational problem that demands both immediate action and long term skills, understanding and solutions. — From #Teach4Climate Back to School 2017 Campaign

NOAA has designed a social media campaign to “enhance the climate literacy of American students and citizens” during the 2017-2018 school year. There is a toolkit and document to keep everyone up-to-date on events and information.