NAME_______________________ Pd.

_________

Date_____________

Climate Change Web-Quest

Directions- Go to: climate.nasa.gov and using the information of the website,
answer the following questions. Write your answers in the space provided.

Key Indicators
1) What is carbon dioxide (CO2) and where does it usually come from?
Carbon dioxide is an important heat trapping (greenhouse) gas which is released from
human activities such as deforestation as well as natural processes such as volcanic
eruptions and respiration.

2) According to the CO2 charts, what was the highest level of CO2 in the 400,000 years
prior to 1950?
300
3) According to the charts, what is the level of CO2 today?
Almost 400
4) Based on the information on the page, why is this level of CO2 a problem?
It can cause a 3degree temperature change which will melt ice and snow in Greenland
and Antarctica causing the rest of the world to heat up more causing more issues
5) According to the charts on Arctic Sea Ice, what has been the overall trend since 1980?
The percent is dropping then rising irregularly
6) What trend can be observed for land ice?
Dropping at a rate of 188 Gigatonnes per year
7) What trend can be observed for sea level?
It increases

8) What overall conclusion can you make based on the data of these three charts?
Sea levels are rising as ice is melting.

Evidence
9) What are eight areas that scientists look at for evidence of global warming?
Sea level rise, global temperature rise, warming oceans, shrinking ice sheets, declining
Arctic sea ice, glacial retreat, extreme events, ocean acidification, decreased snow cover,

Causes
10) What are the five common gases that cause global warming?
Carbon Dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons

Effects
11) According to the effects page, what effect will climate change have on water
availability?
It will increase due to melting ice caps then decrease due to high temperatures
evaporating the liquid.
12) What visible changes have already occurred due to climate change?
Melting ice caps and rising sea level.

Consensus
13) What percentage of scientists agree that climate change is due to human activity?
97%

Innovations
14) Describe three innovations in energy that could help the world become independent
of fossil fuels.