APES--- There are 2 pages to this assignment.
CLIMATE CHANGE—work with a partner and write down your opinion to
each of the following statements about Global Climate Change-(agree/disagree and why). After completing all of them, go to the website
skepticalscience.com. *check your answers to the questions, especially the
“WHY?” portion. (there is a thermometer on the left side of the webpage with
the questions on it –the numbers on this page relate to the number on the
thermometer) Write a one/two sentence explanation if your answer does not
agree with the description/explanation given in the site.
1. Climate's changed before
Climate is always changing. We have had
ice ages and warmer periods when alligators were found in Spitzbergen.
Ice ages have occurred in a hundred thousand year cycle for the last
700 thousand years, and there have been previous periods that appear
to have been warmer than the present despite CO2 levels being lower
than they are now. More recently, we have had the medieval warm
period and the little ice age. (Richard Lindzen)
3. It's not bad
"Two thousand years of published human histories say
that warm periods were good for people. It was the harsh, unstable Dark
Ages and Little Ice Age that brought bigger storms, untimely frost,
widespread famine and plagues of disease." (Dennis Avery)
4. There is no consensus
The Petition Project features over 31,000
scientists signing the petition stating "there is no convincing scientific
evidence that human release of carbon dioxide will, in the forseeable
future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere". (Petition
Project)
6. Models are unreliable
"Models do a very poor job of describing the
clouds, the dust, the chemistry and the biology of fields, farms and
forests. They are full of fudge factors so the models more or less agree
with the observed data. But there is no reason to believe the same
fudge factors would give the right behaviour in a world with different
chemistry, for example in a world with increased CO2." (Freeman
Dyson)
8. Animals and plants can adapt
Corals, trees, birds, mammals, and
butterflies are adapting well to the routine reality of changing climate
(source: Hudson Institute)
When finished with the above questions and answers, search “Climate
Wisconsin” on YouTube. There are 10 videos that relate directly to Global
Climate Change and its impact specifically on Wisconsin that will appear—they
range from Farming in Bangor to Ice on the Madison Chain of Lakes to the
Birkebeiner in Hayward. Choose any three of the video segments to view and
write a short 3-5 sentence description of each. You must view and summarize
the Adaptation and Mitigation clip and summarize it. (TOTAL OF 4 CLIPS—this
is due on Tuesday when you return to school).