The Effects of Climate Change on Temperature
In New York and California Study Areas
STORE Lesson 4
Name: ___________________
Period: ___________________
Date: ____________________
Introduction
This lesson analyzes temperature projections for the year 2050 and 2099. Students use
Google Earth to compare projected year 2050 and 2099 temperature to recent
temperature and analyze the relative amount of temperature changes within the New
York and California Study Area.
Objective
To visualize projected change in temperature within the California Study Area in the
year 2050 and 2099 and compare it to the projected change in temperature within the
New York Study Area.
Data Set up - Only needed if you have closed Google Earth after completing
Lesson 1.
1. Use this path by double clicking the following folders to get your data. X:drive,
High School, Earth Science, Store Data.
2. Once the Store Data folder is open, look for the file called NYCalStoreData.kmz.
Right click on this file and click copy. Open your H-Drive and paste the file.
Double click the file name to open Google Earth.
Part 1 - Comparison of temperature data at each of the five California weather
stations.
1. Open the CA Weather Stations folder in the Places panel. Double click on San
Jose. A pop-up table will appear and the map will automatically zoom into a
closer view of this weather station.
2. Record the elevation (in feet) in column 1 of the table on the report sheet.
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3. Record the July Average Temperature (referred to as “JulyAvg” in the pop-up
window) in column 2 of the table on the report sheet.
4. Open the 2050 Temperature Projection folder. Open the Single Values folder
and turn on the July Average Temperature.
5. On the map, click on the closest green point (Single Values) to the weather
station. You may need to close the weather station pop-up table before choosing
the closest point. If you do not see any green points around your location,
SLOWLY zoom out until you see the closest green point.
6. Record the projected temperature for 2050 (referred to as “Temp_F” in the popup window) in Column 3 of the table on the report sheet.
7. Turn off the 2050 Temperature Projection.
8. Open the 2099 Temperature Projection folder. Open the Single Values folder
and turn on the July Average Temperature.
9. On the map, click on the closest blue point (Single Values) to the weather station.
You may need to close the weather station pop-up table before choosing the
closest point. If you do not see any blue points around your location, SLOWLY
zoom out until you see the closest blue point.
10. Record the projected temperature for 2099 (referred to as“Jul_TMP_99” in the
pop-up window). Record this value in Column 4.
11. Repeat steps 1 through 10 for the other California weather stations.
12. Turn off all layers when you have completely filled out the table.
 Part 2 - Comparison of temperature data at each of the five New York weather
stations.
13. Open the NY Data folder, then open the Western New York Study Area folder.
Now turn on the Western NY Weather Stations and Study Area Boundary
layers.
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14. Open the Western NY Weather Stations folder in the Places panel. Double
click on Tully Heiberg Forest. A pop-up table will appear and the map will
automatically zoom into a closer view of this weather station.
15. Record the elevation (in feet) in column 1 of the table on the report sheet.
16. Record the July Average Temperature (referred to as “JulyAvg” in the pop-up
window) in column 2 of the table on the report
17. Open the 2050 Precipitation Temperature folder. Open the Single Values
folder and turn on the July Average Temperature layer.
18. On the map, click on the closest green point (Single Values) to the weather
station. You may need to close the weather station pop-up table before choosing
the closest point. If you do not see any green points around your location,
SLOWLY zoom out until you see the closest green point
19. Record the projected temperature for 2050 (referred to as“JUL_TMP_50” in the
pop-up window) in Column 3 of the table on the report sheet.
20. Turn off the 2050 Temperature Projection.
21. Open the 2099 Precipitation Temperature folder. Open the Single Values
folder and turn on the July Average Temperature layer.
22. On the map, click on the closest blue point (Single Values) to the weather station.
You may need to close the weather station pop-up table before choosing the
closest point. If you do not see any blue points around your location, SLOWLY
zoom out until you see the closest blue point.
23. Record the projected temperature for 2099 (referred to as“JUL_TMP_99” in the
pop-up window). Record this value in Column 4.
24. Repeat steps 13 through 23 for the other New York weather stations.
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25. Use the data you have collected and the layers on google earth to answer the
questions on the report sheet.
Name
Date
Block
Partner
Lesson 4 Report Sheet: The Effects of Climate Change on
Temperature in New York and California Study Areas
Column 1
California
Weather
Stations
Column 2
Column 3
Column 4
Elevation
(feet)
July Average
Temperature
(oF)
2050
Temperature
Projection
(oF)
2099
Temperature
Projection
(oF)
Elevation
(feet)
July Average
Temperature
(oF)
2050
Temperature
Projection
(oF)
2099
Temperature
Projection
(oF)
San Jose
Modesto CityCounty AP
Sonora RS
Mount
Hamilton
Twin Lakes
New York
Weather
Stations
Avon
Buffalo Niagara
Intl
Geneva
Research Farm
Warsaw 6 SW
Tully Heiberg
Forest
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Questions – Answer the following questions in the space provided.
1. After reviewing the data collected for the California and New York weather
stations, state the relationship between the elevation and the July Average
Temperature.
2. Which study area had the greatest change from July average temperature to
projected temperature? List a possible reason for this change.
3. Using the data you collected, which year had the greatest change in projected
temperature? Provide specific data from your investigation to support your
answer.
4. Based on the data collected, which location in the California study area had the
greatest change in projected temperature? Provide specific data from your
investigation to support your answer.
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5. Based on the data collected, which location in the New York study area had the
greatest change in projected temperature? Provide specific data from your
investigation to support your answer.
6. Using the locations from questions 4 and 5, compare the amount of change in
projected temperature. Are the changes similar? Develop a conclusion that
would help explain this observation.
7. Now that you have seen some of the possible changes to temperature and
precipitation (Lesson 1) caused by global warming, describe how these changes
will effect the vegetation in each of the study areas.
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