Climate Change as Simulated by NCAR

Notes from our reviewers

The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials.

• Teaching Tips
  The layout of the animation is excellent, with the distribution of the surface temperatures on the top layer and global mean below, with appropriate labels highlighting important features of the simulation. The Quicktime version or full screen is much better resolution than the one embedded on the page.
• About the Science
  There is no direct pedagogical support for this animation, although there are web links and on-video descriptions that make it clear what the video is illustrating.
• About the Pedagogy
  This animation is based on simulation runs from Version 3 of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate System Model. This version does not handle deep convection in the atmosphere, tropical precipitation, albedo, Arctic sea ice concentration, etc. included in the most recent version 4. Comments from expert scientist: It's a good summary of what one model projects for future temperature. The video is straightforward and gets the point across well. The important scientific assumptions (i.e. emissions) are explicitly pointed out. It also points out the significant cooling effect of volcanic eruptions, which is rarely shown as explicitly.
• Technical Details/Ease of Use
  This animation could be effectively used in classroom discussions of the broad changes in surface temperature through the Industrial Revolution. Works best when students watch one section of the world at a time, i.e., the Arctic first, Antarctica, then their own region of the US.