1. Climate change Basics
( Approximately 1 hour 25 minutes of on-screen time = 4 hours 15 mins of student workload hours)
Understanding climate concepts
The Earth's climate is changing, and people's activities are
the main cause.
Our world is always changing. Look out your window long
enough, and you might see the weather change. Look even longer, and you'll see
the seasons change. The Earth's climate is changing, too, but in ways that you
can't easily see. The
Earth is getting warmer because people are adding heat-trapping gases to the
atmosphere, mainly by burning fossil fuels. These gases are called greenhouse
gases. Warmer temperatures are causing other changes around the world, such as
melting glaciers and stronger storms. These changes are happening because the
Earth's air, water, and land are all linked to the climate. The Earth's climate
has changed before, but this time is different. People are causing these
changes, which are bigger and happening faster than any climate changes that
modern society has ever seen before.