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Climate Change, Climate change and the water cycle, Climate change education, Global warming, High school geography teacher, High school science teachers
As a geographer and former high school geography teacher, I must confess that I take some scientific facts for granted, such as climate and the water cycle. A recent post “Climate Science Meets a Stubborn Obstacle: Students” by fellow blogger Robert Vella brought to my attention the challenges some of our high school science teachers face in regions of America where climate change denial creates havoc in the minds of our youth.
When your father has raised you to believe that the coal they once mined, or still mine, can in no way affect our climate, it’s difficult to have an open mind to scientific consensus on the issue.
Geography lessons in high school expanded my curious mind to our relationship with our world: land, oceans, atmosphere, and all the in-between. When taking a climatology course at university, I found myself at a disadvantage for having chosen to study art instead of physics in high school. I had lots of catching up to do. Our course in biogeography alerted me to the ways that we humans are degrading our ecosystems. Those were the days before the Internet and Wikipedia.
Young people with reading proficiency and access to the Internet have no excuse for not learning about issues that impact their lives. Science classes (as for all other subject matter) in high school should be one of learning and open discussion, not provocation and confrontation, between students and teachers.
The Climate Reality Project, founded and chaired by former US Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore, has published an eight-page e-Booklet, titled Climate Change and the Water Cycle: Four Big Questions Answered, that I would like to share with young readers, as well as other readers who, like me, sometimes take for granted the vital role of water in our daily lives. For good and for bad.
When we think of climate change or global warming, the first image that usually comes to mind is the melting icecaps and glaciers. Rising temperatures also heat up our oceans, causing more evaporation, greater cloud formation, and increased rainfall. But it’s more complex than that.
The Climate Reality’s e-Booklet answers four of the most confusing questions about how climate change impacts the water cycle:
- Why does climate change increase rainfall?
- How is climate change bringing about more droughts?
- What does climate change have to do with hurricanes and typhoons?
- What does climate change have to do with wildfires?
Three Worlds One Vision 
Reblogged this on Guyanese Online.
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Cyril, thanks for your continued support. Always, much appreciated ❤
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I’d seen the Vella article and was also impressed/distressed by it. The ties that bind us to our parents do, often, also blind us as well. The Vella article has value, in part, because it reveals the limits on education as a sole solution to the “fake news” epidemic.
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Given the latest challenge, Dr. Stein, we have to find alternative reliable sources for obtaining the facts about climate change and actions already underway to address this existential threat to humanity. In my next post, I plan to share some good news of our progress here in the US from one such reliable source, the Union of Concerned Scientists.
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Excellent choice. The Union of Concerned Scientists are compassionate people who base their information on well-documented science. I’ve referenced them on my blog (though I don’t do a lot on science). 😀
Excellent post, too. I’ve always been blown away by people who take water for granted and, more generally, who take for granted the amazingly delicate balance needed to support healthy life.
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Thanks. We humans have become enamored with our own technological creations and manipulation of Nature. We run the risk of believing that we exist outside of the laws Nature.
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Yes, we have a suicidal level of arrogance that will destroy all life as we know it on the planet.
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Very relevant and I agree we need to continue to be ever vigilant to protect the earth and present a place for my children and grandchildren to enjoy. Thanks, Rosaliene! ~Robin
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Thanks for dropping by, Robin. Our challenge is great. We cannot tire or give up.
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We must not, I agree! My Dad was big into a compost pile, recycling and worried about factories’ pollution into air, stream and underground systems. We’ll be in touch! 🙂
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Rosaliene, As usual, your blog is informative and thought-provoking. I followed your link and that link and started wondering if everyone is fighting over terminology rather than scientific facts. In the first place, there is nothing scientific about predictions, no matter how many scientific facts are used to make them. This happens to be a pet peeve of mine, about which I hope to write more another time.
But reading further, and preparing for my own future blogs, I began wondering if people are putting too much blame on carbon emissions, when the real culprit may have been the Industrial Revolution itself, and the resultant overgrowth of cities, population, waste, squandering natural resources (like deforestation), and churning industrial products for short-term profits and long-term costs, like environmental toxins. “Planned obsolescence,” such as Vance Packard so brilliantly detailed in “The Waste Makers.” The corporate advertiser-promoted “consumerism” that links American “greatness” to the amount of money you make or have and the “stuff” you buy.
No one except me seems to link “climate change” to the proliferation of plastic in our lives, but plastic has long carbon chains and yes it does decompose in the environment, releasing its enormous BTU’s of energy and probably contributing to the warming of oceans and melting polar caps.
Anyway, it seems that focusing so much on CO2 oversimplifies the problem and justifiably arouses suspicion among those who have common sense but not the education to back it up. I believe we need to expand the discussion to include more of the contributing elements. It may help people understand that Walmart’s cheap plastic junk made by slave labor in China, in factories that are spewing toxic chemicals plus CO2 into the atmosphere and groundwater, is contributing to the problem. Those products are enshrouded in multiple layers of packaging, and coming to the US in ships that also use enormous amounts of fossil fuels, with the packaging getting dumped into landfill and ending up in the oceans, where it mutates and chokes marine life, and for what? A few pennies’ savings on something you don’t need that the packaging will outlast anyway? Now that’s a more complete picture of what’s causing “climate change,” according to me.
Combat “climate change” by staying home (if you have one), planting a tree, and growing food (preferably not genetically modified, and don’t use artificial fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, but these days, that’s almost impossible to avoid).
Sorry to be so long-winded, (long-worded?), but you know how passionate I am about these things.
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katharineotto, you are correct that there is a larger anthropogenic problem than simply climate change (i.e. the Industrial Revolution); however, allow me to correct some of your points.
>>> “In the first place, there is nothing scientific about predictions, no matter how many scientific facts are used to make them.”
Climatology doesn’t make “predictions” like seer Nostradamus or mystic Edgar Cayce. It forecasts future climate based on scientific knowledge of Earth’s physical and chemical mechanisms (e.g. atmosphere and oceans) using highly sophisticated computer models and verifies the results against the paleoclimate record (see: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Paleoclimatology_Understanding/). To date, these models match the historical record very closely.
>>> “Anyway, it seems that focusing so much on CO2 oversimplifies the problem and justifiably arouses suspicion among those who have common sense but not the education to back it up.”
I agree that suspicion is raised among the uninformed, but it is a scientific fact that CO2 is by far the greatest anthropogenic contributor to global warming. Firstly, the CO2 emitted by the burning of fossil fuels has an easily identifiable molecular signature that distinguishes it from natural sources; and, the measured quantity of which matches the known quantities of fossil fuels we burn (e.g. coal, oil, gas, deforestation). Secondly, CO2 remains in the atmosphere much longer than other more potent greenhouse gases such as CH4 (i.e. methane); and, that is why it is the greatest driver of global warming (see: http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/global-warming-faq.html and https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/sep/27/global-warming-ipcc-report-humans).
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Robert, thanks for your contribution in responding to Katharine’s comments and questions. Climate change is a very complex and multi-faceted phenomenon demanding extensive scientific research which makes it difficult for us to fully comprehend.
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Glad to help. I’ve been studying it since the late 1960s when it was known as “the greenhouse effect.”
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I remember that.
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Katherine, I know that, like me, you are passionate about this issue. Everything you mention, including our plastics, contribute to the ongoing degradation of our ecosystems worldwide. We’ve got to tackle them all.
Here’s an article from NASA that explains why carbon dioxide is the greatest contributing factor to the warming of our atmosphere. If we cannot accept the results of our scientists worldwide, after their years of research and observations for the causes of climate change, we are doomed to self-destruct as a species.
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Oh. And regarding the water cycle . . . due to the “phase changes” of water, evaporation absorbs heat and condensation (like rain or snow) releases it, possibly into the upper atmosphere, where it may dissipate into the cooler beyond. Also, burning the simplest organic molecule (methane/natural gas) produces twice as much water as it does CO2. I haven’t heard anyone mention possible amelioration by phase change effects or the added water by burning fossil fuels. Have you?
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The water cycle (i.e. the hydrological cycle) on Earth is essentially a closed system, meaning that the total amount of liquid water, water vapor, and ice is relatively constant. Also, the water cycle is generally confined to the troposphere (i.e. the lowest level of the atmosphere) where weather and climate occur (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cycle).
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I contend Wikipedia is wrong about this. The simplest hydrocarbon is methane, or natural gas, CH4. When it is burned, it produces two water molecules for every one of CO2. Other hydrocarbons produce more water. You can look it up in any organic chemistry book. If there is too much carbon released into the atmosphere, then there is at least twice as much water. The scientists and computer models apparently don’t take this into account. As far as I know, there is no natural cycle that breaks those water molecules back down into hydrogen and oxygen.
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Your contention is both erroneous and apparently agenda-driven. The Wikipedia article on the hydrological cycle is consistent with established science, and can be easily verified from any accredited textbook on the subject (see: https://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html).
First of all, the burning of methane contributes only about 1/4 of the CO2 emitted from the burning of fossil fuels for power generation (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas).
Second, the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is dependent upon temperature. Load more water into the atmosphere than it can hold, and it will condense out as precipitation (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas#Role_of_water_vapor).
Third, the chemical reaction involved in methane burning (CH4 + 2 O2 → CO2 + 2 H2O) consumes oxygen. If your contention was true, then Earth would be gaining water and losing oxygen. In fact, Earth is slowly losing water; and, its oxygen loss is negligible (see: http://sciencenordic.com/earth-has-lost-quarter-its-water and http://scrippso2.ucsd.edu/).
Although Earth’s magnetic field generally protects water molecules from being split and lost to space by the solar wind (e.g. Venus and Mars), this process still occurs albeit as a low rate (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_escape).
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I haven’t, Katherine. I leave such concerns to the climate change scientists.
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a wonderful resource, thanks for sharing!
now, what would Darwin say
about climate deniers? 🙂
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David, considering that the individuals propagating the denial occupy a powerful position in the human hierarchy, Darwin would be faced with a dilemma.
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It’s frightening how malleable minds are being exploited by political agendas, today. Let’s hope people speaking out for education will prevail. I believe it will.
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It’s frightening, indeed, Pablo. The climate change deniers who profit from fossil fuel energy production have no regard for the masses of this world. After all, our growing numbers are part of the problem.
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That is a terrifying thought.
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Indeed, Pablo.
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Just had a read of the e-book .. explains the process well! Here in Australia we’ve had horrific bushfires over the last 10 years including “Black Saturday” which killed many people some who I knew. Meanwhile the gov just approved the building of a massive new coal mines that will operate near the Great Barrier Reef. The last thing we need to be doing is adding another coal mine to the mix. It’s mind boggling that the government can let this sort of thing go on but change is slow sometimes. That’s a good e-book to remember to explain climate change in a clear cut manner. Thanks for sharing.
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Rachael, it’s disturbing that Australia is also dragging its feet in addressing climate change. I’ve read reports that the Great Barrier Reef is dying.
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An important post Rosalienne, packed with fact and emotion. I had no idea of your background as a teacher. The story of Mr. Sutter and Gwyn and his other students is amazing, in that it is stunning how deep denial can be, (I guess about anything).
I’ve downloaded the climate reality e-book to read later. Over the next few weeks I’m going to delve deeper into it, along with a few other books I’ve ordered from our local library by Dr. Andrew Weaver, a climate scientist and past member of the IPCC. He obtained a seat for the greens in the BC 2012 election, and he was re-elected with 2 other Greens in our very close May 2017 election. (you probably read that post but here’s a re-link to tweak your memory about Andrew Weaver)
Now with the results of the 2017 election, these 3 Greens now hold the balance of power in British Columbia and have come to an agreement with the social democrats, to move forward with many exciting new possibilities – especially to fight climate change, and take big money our of politics, as well as change our voting system here, to proportional representation…. It’s an exciting time here in BC — so please watch closely what’s happening. I probably will post about it later, as things unfold.
Here’s a 3 week old link from Canada Broadcasting Corporation a few weeks ago that I’ll share but much more has and is evolving quickly…
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/andrew-weaver-green-party-negotiations-b-c-1.4119682
Thanks so much for this comprehensive and informative post, Rosalienne.
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Thanks for sharing, Bruce. Only now discovered your comments in my spam folder.
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You taught geography? So lucky! I wish I could teach science in some form.
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What’s holding you back, Intrepid?
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Sounds like a great resource. Thanks.
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It is, Dr. Bramhall.
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I dropped into your blog by chance and here I got a variety of articles I would love to read…!
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Only now discovered your comment in my spam box. Thanks for dropping by. Loved your post on your conversation with your child 🙂
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My Pleasure and Thanks a lot to you too Rosaliene for taking out time to read my post. 🙂
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Hi water scarcity is a real issue for many developing countries, I write a lot of sustainable living and renewable energy. Let me know if we can collaborate. Please review my blog
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Thanks for dropping by. I’ll check out your blog.
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UPDATE JUNE 17, 2017
Our challenge in educating our children about the risks of climate disruption increase with each passing day. I read the latest development in the article “US Senators Deem Heartland Institute Mailings to Grade School Science Teachers “Possibly Fraudulent” by Sharon Kelly, published by Truthout on June 17, 2017.
If you teach science to American schoolchildren, there’s a good chance that you might open your mailbox soon and find a package containing a free, unsolicited 135-page book and 11-minute DVD, plus a cover letter from the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based free-market “think tank.”
“How do you teach global warming?” the letter begins. “I am writing to ask you to consider the possibility that the science in fact is not ‘settled.’ If that’s the case, then students would be better served by letting them know a vibrant debate is taking place among scientists on how big the human impact on climate is and whether or not we should be worried about it.”
Read the complete article at http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/40937-us-senators-heartland-institute-mailings-to-grade-school-science-teachers-possibly-fraudulent
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Indeed, the challenge is great and getting worse. Mother Nature will have the final say, however.
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So true, Robert.
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This is indicative of the power of indoctrination – I pray people can break from their limitations, and see beyond, but I don’t hold out much hope.
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Mary, as Robert notes, “Mother Nature will have the final say.”
Sadly, when the truth kicks us in the teeth, it will be too late to avert the disaster.
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Yep. Have you read Lovelock?
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No. Are you referring to the title of a book or the name of an author?
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The name of the author. I forget his first name: he’s been talking about global warming and the related issues but now feels it’s too late…
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Very well written! It is indeed a huge problem that many of our youth don’t believe in climate change. Yes the information is much more available than it used to be, but also there is SOO MUCH OF IT! It can be overwhelming and confronting when you are surrounded by those who are telling you different from what you are reading. We can’t give up!
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Thanks for dropping by. No, we can’t give up. The survival of our species depends upon each one of us.
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Thanks for sharing my post. Much appreciated 🙂
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