Week 12 - Introduction to Climate Chage

Week 12 - Intro to Climate Change

News/Introduction

This will be a short intro because we had our geology quiz! But we started off by discussing the documentary Before the Flood. We learned many things on climate change and how our actions have contributed to the rise in greenhouse gases (methane and carbon dioxide). One contributing factor has to do with the denial of climate change, despite evidence showing. 

For our lab investigation, we looked at NASA's Images of Change, and were shocked at some of the images. During this time, we asked about questions that students would ask. But these images were shocking! During this time we also discussed the idea of climate versus weather and came up with an important distinction - weather is a daily measure, while climate is a measure based on the weather for the last 30 years. 

The main part of our investigation was looking at the Iowa goldfinch. Is the goldfinch in danger? We looked at weather data at different regions of Iowa, and we have a compelling argument. In recent years, Iowa has had more hot days, and more rainy days. In fact, last week, Iowa had 5 inches of rain. This is way more than expect for an average fall day in Iowa! My argument was because of Iowa becoming a wetter state, farmers have to adjust their crops, and this causes the goldfinch to change its behavior!

New Discoveries

 Easily, the biggest discovery was that Iowa is having major impacts from climate change. We learned that Iowa is getting wetter. As mentioned above, we had a day where we received 5 inches of rain. This is more than what we receive for the month of October! A common misconception that I had was that climate change was consistent across all areas. I didn't expect to hear that Iowa was getting more rain, and more days over 100 degrees.

From Before the Flood, I didn't know how many people in Congress were climate change deniers, and that they were being paid off by the companies. When we looked at temperature maps, the average temperature of the earth has increased. 

Connections

I have felt the effects of climate change. Being from Colorado, I have noticed that wildfires are becoming more of a problem. This is because of the rising temperature in Colorado. Having moved to Iowa, we are getting smoke from these wildfires, making it harder to breathe outside. Additionally, climate change is causing fewer frost-free mornings which is causing a longer allergy season and more incidences of asthma cases. 

This is also causing other impacts. This topic of climate change has become very political and has caused companies (oil and gas) to "buy" members of Congress. Many members in Congress actively deny climate change and legislation dies in the Senate. This also has an impact financially. From the documentary, the city of Miami Beach has to spend a significant amount of money to raise the roads and installing pipes underneath to help mitigate the issue of "dry flooding."

The Future

For our next week, we are going to look at glaciers and sea levels. We are also asked to interview an elder on the topic of climate change!

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