Steroids, Baseball and Climate

National Center for Atmospheric Research, Climate Central

This short cartoon video uses a simple baseball analogy (steroid use increases probability of hitting home runs) to explain how small increases in greenhouse gases can cause global temperature changes and increase the probability of extreme weather events.

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Notes from our reviewers

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Video would be perfect for a high school classroom examining weather vs climate, extreme weather events, and human causes of climate change. This should be integrated into activities that define greenhouse gases and distinguish between natural and man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
Explaining the relationship between extreme weather events, such as a record heat wave, and global climate change is challenging. Although emissions of greenhouse gases are making heat waves more common and more severe overall, one cannot attribute a specific event to global warming. This video uses a simple baseball analogy to explain how greenhouse gases have a similar impact as steroids do on a baseball player by increasing the chances of hitting a home run. Video explains the role of greenhouse gases in increasing the probability of hot days versus cold days, and addresses the common misconception that record cold temperatures are evidence that the climate is not changing. The ratio of record warmth and record cold varies with time. A NOAA summary of current information about record temperatures [link http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/datatools/records 'can be found here']. Comments from expert scientist: Very nice metaphor. Easy to explain. Scientific concepts are measured, not exaggerated.