The Science of Global Warming

Rationale

This unit focuses mostly on American consumption of fuel for a very important reason: America is the biggest consumer and unfortunately the largest waster of energy. If America cleaned up its act the world would be much better off. Also, because of the scale that America has when it comes to energy, if technologies are introduced here they are very likely to be adopted in other countries. All of the ideas (with numbers and geographies appropriately adapted) could be adopted anywhere in the world.

This unit is designed primarily for high school chemistry, biology, or physics classes. Additionally there are many parts that could very easily be used in a mathematics or social studies class. The bulk of the content is chemistry, but the energy balances and transfers fit nicely in a physics curriculum. Also the way in which the different biological components fit together and the beginning ecological issues go well in a biology class.

The politics involved between different countries and trade balances touched on in this unit would go well in a social studies class, as would the geography and use of land and also how the legislative process works with the repealing and gutting of environmental legislation. There is very little mathematic exploration in this unit, but there are some good algebraic manipulations (mostly in the appendices) that would be very good to practice skills should a group of teachers want to teach an interdisciplinary unit from this.

So what is global warming? Global warming is the increase of the average Earth's temperature. It is absolutely occurring, if there were no global warming the Earth's temperature would be near -25 ?C (calculation in appendix). We also know that Carbon Dioxide (CO ₂) increases the effects of global warming and that humans are releasing CO ₂ into the atmosphere at previously unprecedented rates. Global warming and its effects are perhaps the biggest danger the next few generations will face.

Unfortunately, many people say that global warming doesn't exist, but anecdotal evidence shows that most of them are supporters of Lamarckian evolution as well. Global warming does exist. Through a simple study of the amount of energy the Earth receives from the Sun we know that if global warming did not occur, the average temperature of the Earth would be near -25 ?C. Since this is not the case, we know global warming occurs. It is our duty as educators to make our students aware of scientific facts. There is a lot about global warming that is known, but there is also some uncertainty, I would encourage letting your students reach their own conclusions based on the facts and the ranges of data known, just make sure that all conclusions can be supported. Is it coincidental that in the past few years there has not been a single peer-reviewed scientific article doubting that humans are adversely affecting global warming, yet in that same span 54% of the articles in the popular press cast doubt on that assertion?(9) Why is it that the scientific community is in complete agreement, yet the American public seems as unsure of this as they used to be about the link between smoking and pulmonary health? I would assert that it is because many people are scared of science and just passively accept other's explanations instead of critically analyzing data; hopefully this unit will help de-mystify the science of global warming, making it accessible to high school students.