Lesson Plan (Guide)

GLOBAL WARMING

I. Objectives:
1. The terms Greenhouse Effect, Climate Change, and Global Warming are often used
interchangeably, yet they really refer to three separate and distinct processes. In this presentation we
will show how the world is getting warmer.
2. Gases responsible for greenhouse effect that leads to global warming.
3. Causes, effects and possible solutions of global warming.
II. Activity (Motivation): True or False Game
The class will be grouped according to their respective groups. Each group will be given two
colored shapes, 1 red and 1 green. The red shape represents the answer as FALSE and the green
shape represents the answer as TRUE. Each question is worth 4 points. There is a time limit of 10
seconds in answering each question. Each group will raise their chosen shape as their answer when
times up. After the game, the group will total their scores and their scores will have an interpretation.

III. Presentation:
a. Introduction
First, let us look at how the earths atmosphere is heated. The energy that heats the
atmosphere comes from the Sun, which is the source of huge energy. The sun sends its solar
radiation out into space and the earth intercepts only a small portion of it, about one part in two
billion which is a tremendous amount. One-half of that energy reaches the earths atmosphere is
reflected back out into space and about one-half reaches the surface. Once the suns energy reaches
the earths surface, it is absorbed and the temperature of the earths surface increases.
b. Greenhouse Effect
To a certain degree, the earth acts like a greenhouse. Energy from the Sun penetrates the
glass of a greenhouse and warms the air and objects within the greenhouse. The same glass slows the
heat from escaping, resulting in much higher temperatures within the greenhouse than outside it.
Thus, greenhouse effect is referred to as the heat-trapping property in the atmosphere. The
greenhouse gases are responsible for the trapping of heat. Water vapor and carbon dioxide are the
main greenhouse gases. CFCs and methane also add to the greenhouse effect. The influence of men
in greenhouse gases:
Carbon Dioxide from Fossil fuel Combustion: (82%) Carbon Dioxide emitted from Cars, Trains.
Methane: (9%) methane, comes form landfills, coils, oil and gas operations and agriculture
Nitrous Oxide: (5%) Emitted from burning fossils fuels and through the use of certain fertilizers
and industrial processes
Human Made gases: (2%) Released as byproducts of industrial processes and through leakage.
c. Climate Change
Somehow, the term climate change is used interchangeably with global warming but they are
not the same. The relationship between climate change and global warming is that Global warming
(as well as global cooling) refers specifically to any change in the global average surface temperature.
Global warming is often misunderstood to imply that the world will warm uniformly. In fact, an
increase in average global temperature will also cause the circulation of the atmosphere to change,
resulting in some areas of the world warming more, others less. Some areas can even cool. Thus
climate change happens.
Climate change is less frightening than global warming. While global warming has
catastrophic connotations attached to it, climate change suggests a more controllable and less
emotional challenge.
d. Global Warming
Now that we know how the earths atmosphere is heated up, let us talk about global warming
which is an undying issue for decades. But first, what is global warming?
Slowly, the ability of the earths atmosphere to absorb heat from the surface has increased
and, with it, the temperature of the atmosphere. This is known as global warming.
It refers to a rise of a temperature of the surface of the earth.
The discovery of global warming was largely credited to an American scientist by the name
of Wallace Smith Broecker. He was born on November 29
th
, 1931 in Chicago. He has 6 children and
his wife of 53 years passed away in 2007.
On August 8
th
, 1975, he published a paper in the Science magazine. The paper was titled
Are we on the brink of a pronounced global warming?, where he first used the term global
warming. Before that, the term was generally described as inadvertent climate modification by
other scientists. Wallace Broecker believed that the term, modification, was incorrect because the
concept of modification bears the possibility of change in either direction, meaning it could get
warmer or colder.
e. Causes of Global Warming
1. Increased carbon dioxide is the primary driver of global warming
CO
2
absorbs heat reflected from the Earths surface heat that would otherwise pass freely
into space. The CO
2
then releases that heat, warming the Earths atmosphere.
As CO
2
levels increase, the pace of warming accelerates. Satellite measurements confirm
that less heat is escaping the atmosphere today than 40 years ago. Though other heat-trapping
gases also play a role, CO
2
is the primary contributor to global warming.
The climate has changed many times in the geologic past due to natural causes including
volcanic activity, changes in the suns intensity, fluctuations in Earth's orbit, and other factors
but none of these can account for the current rise in global temperatures.
2. We are the primary cause of global warming.
Scientists can conclusively identify that human activity is responsible for the observed
increase in CO
2
. How? The carbon dioxide emitted by burning coal, natural gas, and oil has a
unique chemical fingerprint" and the additional CO
2
in the atmosphere bears that signature.
f. Effects of Global Warming
1. Accelerating sea level rise and increased coastal flooding
Average global sea level has increased eight inches since 1880, but is rising much faster on
the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. Global warming is now accelerating the rate of sea level
rise, increasing flooding risks to low-lying communities and high-risk coastal properties whose
development has been encouraged by today's flood insurance system.
2. Longer and more damaging wildfire seasons
Wildfires are increasing and wildfire season is getting longer in the Western U.S. as
temperatures rise. Higher spring and summer temperatures and earlier spring snow-melt result in
forests that are hotter and drier for longer periods of time, priming conditions for wildfires to
ignite and spread.
3. More frequent and intense heat waves
Dangerously hot weather is already occurring more frequently than it did 60 years agoand
scientists expect heat waves to become more frequent and severe as global warming intensifies.
This increase in heat waves creates serious health risks, and can lead to heat exhaustion, heat
stroke, and aggravate existing medical conditions.
4. Costly and growing health impacts
Climate change has significant implications for our health. Rising temperatures will likely
lead to increased air pollution, a longer and more intense allergy season, the spread of insect-
borne diseases, more frequent and dangerous heat waves, and heavier rainstorms and flooding.
All of these changes pose serious, and costly, risks to public health.
5. An increase in extreme weather events
Strong scientific evidence shows that global warming is increasing certain types of extreme
weather events, including heat waves, coastal flooding, extreme precipitation events, and more
severe droughts. Global warming also creates conditions that can lead to more powerful
hurricanes.
6. Heavier precipitation and flooding
As temperatures increase, more rain falls during the heaviest downpours, increasing the risk
of flooding events. Very heavy precipitation events, defined as the heaviest one percent of
storms, now drop 67 percent more precipitation in the Northeast, 31 percent more in the Midwest
and 15 percent more in the Great Plains than they did 50 years ago.
7. More severe droughts in some areas
Climate change affects a variety of factors associated with drought and is likely to increase
drought risk in certain regions. As temperatures have warmed, the prevalence and duration of
drought has increased in the western U.S. and climate models unanimously project increased
drought in the American Southwest.
8. Melting ice
Temperatures are rising in the planet's polar regions, especially in the Arctic, and the vast
majority of the world's glaciers are melting faster than new snow and ice can replenish them.
Scientists expect the rate of melting to accelerate, with serious implications for future sea level
rise.
9. Disruptions to food supplies
Rising temperatures and the accompanying impacts of global warming including more
frequent heat waves, heavier precipitation in some regions, and more severe droughts in
others has significant implications for crop and meat production. Global warming has the
potential to seriously disrupt our food supply, drive costs upward, and affect everything
from coffee to cattle, from staple food crops to the garden in your backyard.
10. Destruction of coral reefs
As global temperatures rise, so too do average sea surface temperatures. These elevated
temperatures cause long-term damage to coral reefs. Scientists have documented that sustained
water temperatures of as little as one degree Celsius above normal summer maxima can cause
irreversible damage.
11. Plant and animal range shifts
efficiency greenhouse effect emission
climate change primary moon
sun Johann Elert Bode carbon dioxide
water vapor heats up James L. Elliot
cools down polar regions global warming
W.S. Broecker general shifts
A changing climate affects the range of plants and animals, changing their behavior and
causing disruptions up and down the food chain. The range of some warm-weather species will
expand, while those that depend on cooler environments will face shrinking habitats and
potential extinction.
g. Solutions of Global Warming
1. Reduce consumption of fossil fuels
2. Reduce waste
3. Use solar power energy
4. Use clean coal and oil
5. Drive low emission and fuel efficiency vehicle
6. Plant more trees

IV. Evaluation:
Identification: Select the best answer in the box that best completes the statement or answers the
question. Write the answers on the line provided before the number.







1. (Global warming) refers to an increase in the average temperature near the Earths surface.
2. (Greenhouse effect) is referred to as the heat-trapping property in the atmosphere.
3. (Climate change) refers to the broader set of changes that go along with global warming,
including changes in weather patterns, the oceans, ice and snow, and ecosystems.
4. Increased (carbon dioxide) is the primary driver of global warming.
5. We are the (primary) cause of global warming.
6. The energy that heats the atmosphere comes from the (Sun) .
7. The earth (heats up) if the amount of solar energy is greater than the amount radiated.
8. The earth (cools down) if the amount of solar energy is less than the amount radiated.
9. 10. (water vapor) and (carbon dioxide) are the main greenhouse gases.
11. Climate change refers to (general shifts) in climate including temperature, precipitation, winds,
and other factors.
12. The discovery of global warming was largely credited to an American scientist by the name
(Wallace Smith Broecker) .
13. Temperatures are rising in the planets (polar regions) , especially in the Arctic.
14. 15. One solution of global warming is to drive low (emission) and fuel (efficiency)
vehicle.