Byrd Polar Research Center Climate Model Simulation

This set of animations and interactive simulations from the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University helps students develop an understanding of models used to understand the Earth system. Students consider the types of data that need to be included in a climate model, looking at inputs, outputs, and variables. The animations show how data is calculated for grid cells and assembled into a comprehensive model.

The Climate Challenge: Our Choices Simulator

This Flash-based simulation explores the relationship between carbon emissions and atmospheric carbon dioxide using two main displays: (1) graphs that show the level of human-generated CO2 emissions, CO2 removals, and the level of CO2 in the atmosphere, and (2) a bathtub animation that shows the same information as the graphs. The bathtub simulation illustrates the challenges of reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

At the Core of Climate Change

This video shows where and how ice cores are extracted from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The cores are cut, packaged, flown to the ice core storage facility in Denver, further sliced into samples, and shipped to labs all over the world where scientists use them to study indicators of climate change from the past.

Climate Simulator

This is a simulation that illustrates how temperature will be affected by global CO2 emission trajectories. It addresses the issue that even if global emissions begin to decrease, the atmospheric concentration of CO2 will continue to increase, resulting in increased global temperatures.

Modeling Our Climate

This video is simple in its appearance, but it contains a wealth of relevant information about global climate models.

Climate Modeling 101

This resource is a website that is a self-contained, multi-part introduction to how climate models work. The materials include videos and animations about understanding, constructing and applying climate models.

A Year In The Life Of Earth's CO2

This high-resolution narrated video shows levels and movements of CO2 globally through the course of a year.

Global And Great Lakes Climate Change

In this activity students work with data to analyze local and global temperature anomaly data to look for warming trends. The activity focuses on the Great Lakes area.

Mann and Ramsdorf on IPCC 2013

In this video, Michael Mann and Peter Ramsdorf explore some of the information from the 2013 IPCC 5th report in light of public perceptions of climate science.

What is the Future of Earth's Climate?

This is a series of 5 guided-inquiry activities that examine data and models that climate scientists use to attempt to answer the question of Earth's future climate.

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