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Icebergs in the Southern Ocean
Ute Kaden/PolarTREC

Content for Climate Change Education Courses

Looking for online content that can be used for a climate change education course or module?

Pages linked below can be used to support an introductory climate change education for either a unit or a full course.  Pages link to content on Windows to the Universe as well as readings from other reliable online educational sources.   Be sure to click "Advanced" in the button bar near the top of the page to get content for more advanced readers.  We will continue to expand the resources provided below in coming months.  Be sure to check out our Climate Change Educator Resource page for links to classroom activities, videos, interactives, and resources provided by other organizations as well!

Nature of Science

• What is Science? section of the Understanding Science website (University of California Museum of Paleontology)
• Part VIII - A Scientific Approach to Life: A Science Toolkit of the Understanding Science website (University of California Museum of Paleontology)

Weather and Climate

• Weather
• Climate

Regional Climate

• Regional Climate
• Climate Changes with Latitude
• Layers of the Atmosphere
• The Troposphere
• Temperature in the Troposphere
• Rain Shadow Deserts
• The Gulf Stream
• Surface Ocean Currents

Global Climate and Climate Change

• Global Climate
• Climate Change
• What Controls Climate?

Earth System Science and Biogeochemical Cycles

• The Earth System
• Ecosystems
• Forcing and Feedback Loops
• Biogeochemical Cycles
• The Water Cycle
• The Carbon Cycle
• The Nitrogen Cycle
• Watch the American Geosciences Institute video "Big Idea 3: Earth's Systems Interact", from the AGI Earth Science Education Framework Series
• Ecological Footprint - pages 32-35, Measuring Human Demand: Ecological Footprint of the WWF Living Planet Report 2010.

Reading Nature's Clues to Earth's Past Climate History

• From the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History'sGeologic Time: The Story of a Changing Earth web interactive (developed by their Department of Paleobiology)
  • Introduction to Dating Methods
  • Relative Dating
  • Absolute Dating
  • Paleomagnetics
  • Geologic Time
• From the Windows to the Universe website:
  • Physics and Chemistry Fundamentals
  • States of Matter
  • Atoms
  • Electrons
  • Protons
  • Neutrons
  • Atomic Nucleus
  • Atomic Number
  • Atomic Mass
  • Elements
  • Isotopes
  • Radioactivity and Radiometric Dating
  • Radioactivity
  • Radioactive Decay
  • Half-Life
  • Carbon-14
  • Radiocarbon Dating
  • Sedimentary Rocks and Fossils
  • Fossils
  • Sedimentary Rocks
  • Sedimentary Rocks Contain Clues to Ancient Environments
  • Magnetism and Paleomagnetism
  • Earth's Magnetic Field
  • Reversals of Earth's Magnetic Field Over the Past 160 Million Years
  • Reversals of Earth's Magnetic Field Over the Past 5 Million Years
  • Climate Proxies
  • How Do We Investigate Climates of the Past?
  • Locations of NOAA Paleoclimate Proxy Data
  • Tree Rings and Climate
  • Watch this Paleoclimate Proxies Video from the National Science Foundation
• From the NASA Earth Observatory:
• Paleoclimatology
• Introduction to Paleoclimatology
• Written in the Earth
• Oxygen Isotope Balance
• Record from the Deep - Sediment Cores
• Record from the Deep - Fossil Chemistry
• The Ice Core Record
• Climate Close Up - Tree Rings
• Watch this video on how microfossils reveal the climate history of the Gulf of Mexico using calcium/magnesium ratios from the U.S. Geological Survey
• Watch this video on Dendrochronology and Climate from the Colorado State University's Center for Multiscale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes (CMMAP) Program (funded by the National Science Foundation).

Earth's Climate History

The following web pages are from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History's Geologic Time: The Story of a Changing Earth web interactive

• The Hadean Eon (4.6 - ~3.8 billion years)
• Formation of the Earth
• Earth's Atmosphere
• Earth's Surface
• The Archean Eon (~3.8 - 2.5 billion years)
• Early Continents and Oceans
• First Life on Earth
• Changes in the Atmosphere
• The Proterozoic Eon (2.5 billion - 541 million years)
• Changes in the Atmosphere
• Proterozoic Mountains and Glaciers
• The Phanerozoic Eon (541 million years to the present)
• The Paleozoic Era (541 - 252.2 million years)
• The Cambrian Period, Plate Tectonics at the Start of the Paleozoic
• The Ordovician Period, Ordovician Climate and Plate Tectonics
• The Silurian Period, Silurian Geology and Climate
• The Devonian Period, Climate and Tectonics During the Devonian
• The Mississippian Period, Mississippian Tectonics and Climate
• The Pennsylvanian Period, Pennsylvanian Climate and Tectonics
• The Permian Period, Tectonics, Climate, and the Formation of Pangaea
• The Mesozoic Era (252 - 66 million years)
• The Triassic Period, Extinction and Recovery, Climate and Plate Tectonics
• The Jurassic Period, Jurassic Climate and Tectonic Activity
• The Cretaceous Period, Extinction of the Dinosaurs, Shifting Continents and Greenhouse Climates
• The Cenozoic Era (66 million years - present)
• The Paleogene Period (66 - 23 million years
• The Paleocene Epoch, Climates and Shifting Continents
• The Eocene Epoch, Shifting Continents and Changing Climate
• The Oligocene Epoch, Shifting Continents and Climate
• The Neogene Period (23 - 2.58 million years)
• The Miocene Epoch, Shifting Continents and Changing Climate
• The Pliocene Epoch, Climate Cycles During the Pliocene
• The Quaternary Period (2.58 million years - present)
• The Pleistocene Epoch, Pleistocene Glacial Events, Pleistocene Ecosystems and Extinction, Human Evolution During the Pleistocene
• The Holocene Epoch, Climate Change and Variability, Impact of Human Development

From the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)

• visit the Deep History of Life on Earth Interactive, clicking on the images for more information and videos on the topics on the timeline.
• The Day the Mesozoic Died

NOAA Paleoclimatology

• A Paleo Perspective on Abrupt Climate Change: The Younger Dryas
• NOAA National Climatic Data Centerwebsite - A Paleoperspective on Abrupt Climate Change:
• The Younger Dryas
• Post Glacial Cooling 8,200 Years Ago
• End of the African Humid Period
• Drought and the Akkadian Empire
• Drought and the Classic Maya Civilization

Climate Forcing

• The Sun and Solar Variability
• Solar Activity
• Sunspots
• Sunspot Cycle
• Solar Variation
• Solar Radiation at Earth
• Solar Energy in Earth's Atmosphere
• Albedo
• How the Sun Effects Earth's Climate: Solar and Milankovitch Cycles
• Milankovitch Cycles
• Milutin Milankovitch
• Orbital Variations
• Milankovitch Theory
• Paleoclimatology: Explaining the Evidence
• The Astronomical Theory of Climate Change
• Richard Alley's Milankovitch Dance (just the first part of the video
• Step through the 9 pages of the following interactive, that demonstrate Milankovitch Cycles in an animation (you can enter values and do the Test Your Knowledge at the end if you'd like, but it's not required. This is just so that you will see an animation of what these motions look like - Milankovitch Cycle Interactive
• Greenhouse Gases
• Earth's Greenhouse Effect
• Greenhouse Gases
• Carbon Dioxide
• The Keeling Curve
• Methane
• Water Vapor
• Clouds
• Global Warming Clouds and Albedo Feedback Loops
• The Cryosphere
• The Cryosphere
• The Cryosphere and Climate Change
• Ice-Albedo Feedback
• Volcanoes
• Volcanoes
• Volcanic Eruptions
• Krakatoa
• The Year Without A Summer
• Volcano Influences on Climate
• Aerosols
• Aerosols
• Aerosols and Climate Change
• Sulfur Oxides
• Black Carbon
• Watch the short video on this page - Changing Planet: Black Carbon
• Plate Tectonics
• Plate Tectonics
• Rock Cycle Influences on Climate
• The Ocean
• The Ocean
• Salinity
• Density of the Ocean
• Temperature of Ocean Water
• Motions of the Ocean
• Surface Ocean Currents
• Upwelling
• Thermohaline Circulation: The Global Ocean Conveyor
• Melting Sea Ice and the Global Ocean Conveyor

Climate Change Today

• Early Studies of the Impact of Carbon Dioxide on Climate
• The IPCC Organization
• IPCC Structure
• IPCC History
• Climate Change: Evidence, Impacts, and Choices from the National Academy of Sciences
• IPCC 5th Assessment: Summary for Policy Makers
• Climate Variability
• El Niño and Other Climate Events
• Teleconnections
• The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
• The North Atlantic Oscillation
• The Hydrosphere
• The Ocean
• Sea Level
• Tides
• Sea Level Rise
• Changing Planet: Ocean Temperature video
• Changing Planet: Rising Sea Level video
• Lakes
• Rising Temperature in Large Lakes
• Changing Planet: Warming Lakes video
• Earth's Polar Regions
• The Geography of Polar Regions
• Aurora
• Polar Oceans
• Warming of the Polar Regions
• The Arctic
• The Arctic Region
• The Arctic Ocean
• Arctic Ocean Currents
• Arctic Warming
• Melting Arctic Sea Ice and the Global Ocean Conveyor
• Changing Planet: Freshwater in the Arctic video
• Life in the Arctic
• Under the Arctic Ice
• Arctic Marine Life
• Arctic Cultures
• Inuit and Climate Change
• The Antarctic
• The Antarctic Region
• Antarctica
• The Southern Ocean
• Warming on the Antarctic Peninsula
• Antarctic Marine Life
• Postcards from the Field: Antarctica from a field expedition in 2006-2007
• The Cryosphere
• The Cryosphere
• Snow
• Sea Ice
• Icebergs
• Ice Shelves
• Glaciers and Ice Sheets
• The Cryosphere and Global Climate Change
• Permafrost
• Permafrost
• Global Warming and Thawing Permafrost
• Thawing Permafrost and Methane video
• Ice Sheets and Glaciers
• Greenland's Ice Is Melting Faster
• Changing Planet: Melting Glaciers video
• Retreat of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
• Ocean Acidification
• Acidic Ocean Water Impacts Corals and Other Marine Life
• Coral Reefs on a Changing Planet
• Changing Planet: Ocean Acidification video
• Impacts on Humans and Other Species and Crops
• Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability - Present and Future
• Withering Crops - An Effect of Global Warming
• Extreme Events and Human Health
• Heat Waves
• Amphibian Die-offs Movie
• Changing Planet: Infectious Diseases video
• Changing Planet: Withering Crops video
• Changing Planet: Adaptation of Species

Climate Interactives

• The Carbon Cycle Game
• The Very, Very Simple Climate Model

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