A quiz to understand atmospheric aerosols, their basic characteristics and impact on climate.
Reading: Water Vapour Feedback and Earth’s Climate
A reading that explains the phase diagrams of water on Earth, Mars, and Venus and discusses the water vapor feedback mechanism in the atmospheres of these planets that influences the greenhouse effect.
Classroom/Laboratory Activity: Volcanoes and Climate
A classroom activity that teaches students about the different atmospheric aerosols and gases released during volcanic eruptions and how they can affect climate.
Classroom/Laboratory Activity: Thermal Potential of Carbon dioxide
A classroom/laboratory activity that demonstrates the thermal properties of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, that may contribute to global warming.
Video lecture: Plant Responses to Climate Related Abiotic Stress
A video lecture that gives an overview of how vegetation responds to climate change in terms of phenotypic plasticity, range shifts, phenology, and population changes.
Teaching Module: Plant Response to Climate related Temperature and Water Stress
This teaching module allows students to explore the role of stomata in regulating leaf temperature and water loss from plants under different environmental and climatic conditions.
Classroom/Laboratory Activity: Photosynthesis Under Variable Environmental Conditions
A simple simulator that allows users to change a range of variables such as the color of light, brightness of light, and carbon dioxide concentration, and then note their impact on the photosynthetic efficiency of a plant.
Reading: Photosynthesis and Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
A reading that discusses the effects of elevated CO2 levels on the photosynthetic efficiency of field-grown plants.
Video micro-lecture: Phase Diagrams and Earth’s Climate
A video micro-lecture that describes the phase diagrams of water on Earth, Mars, and Venus. It also describes the water vapor feedback mechanism in the atmospheres of these planets that influences the greenhouse effect.
Video: Permafrost and Climate Change
A video that introduces permafrost and its distribution on Earth. The video also describes the changing nature of permafrost across several regions due to higher surface temperatures and the possible impact of permafrost thawing on Earth’s climate.
Classroom/Laboratory Activity: Permafrost and Climate Change
A set of hands-on classroom and computer-based activities for students to learn about permafrost and to explore various web-based scientific data portals to investigate permafrost distribution, characteristics of permafrost, and the effects of thawing permafrost on the atmosphere and the environment.
Visualization: pH Levels of Oceans and Atmospheric CO2
A visualization that allows students to explore changes in the pH levels of oceans for different levels of atmospheric CO2. It includes visualizations of CO2 concentrations corresponding to various emission scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Video micro-lecture: Ocean Buffer Chemistry
A video micro-lecture that explains carbonate buffering in the ocean. It includes discussions on the changes in the chemical composition of the ocean caused by a higher concentration of dissolved CO2, ocean acidification and the resulting effect on ocean biota.
Reading: Climate-Informed Development to Mitigate Global Poverty
A feature story on a comprehensive report by the World Bank that describes the threat of climate change to poor people and the ways to offset it through adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Reading: Isotopic Compositions and Ice Cores
A reading that explains how the analyses of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes from ice cores determine past temperatures on Earth.