Climate Change (Online Conference Series)

A Smithsonian in Your Classroom produced lesson plan that addresses NAS National Science Content Standards for ecosystems and Earth's history and NCTM National Mathematics Standards for the use of mathematics to solve problems.

What do we know about the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and what is the evidence of the relationships between carbon and climate? Learn about the longest-running experiment measuring the impact of rising atmospheric CO2 on land ecosystems.

Join a panel of experts for this closing session on Climate Change issues. What open questions can anchor your future discussions, activities, and actions?

Can new inventions help us with climate change issues? Edwards introduces us to the work of inventors concerned with sustainability issues, as well as to her own work in bringing young inventors and research scientists together on projects that address climate change.

Learn more about Galeta, which is adjacent to a coral reef, a mangrove forest, and seagrass beds that harbor all types of marine life. It is the site of an intense study of the biological effects of a major oil spill, as well as ongoing environmental monitoring.

Knowlton will take our exploration of climate change underwater—to the coral reefs, home to one quarter of all the earth's species. Learn about changes in temperature and ocean chemistry and the impact of these changes on both biodiversity and the ability of reefs to support people.

What does the study of indigenous geography—which links the environment, social organization, political structures, and cultural systems—tell us about Native ways of understanding? Herman will guide us in a discussion of "Native science," how it differs from western science, and how it might be applied to climate change studies.

Duncan takes us to the intersections of art, communications, and ecology. He discusses the emergence of video as a medium and how it has been heralded by artists such as Paul Ryan as a visual tool for "scoring" the environment and eliciting community participation in issues of sustainability.

Take a virtual fieldtrip to the center from the comfort of your computer and interact with Haddon as he describes approaches to teaching climate change using Smithsonian resources.

An overview of climate change while delving deeply into the specific impact of global warming on one specific population — Arctic polar bears. Learn about the work of empowered youth taking small and large steps to protect our planet's wildlife.

Fitzhugh will lead you on an exploration of the impact of climate change on northern peoples, both ancient and modern. Using case studies of groups like the Vikings, the ancient Mongolians, Eskimos, and modern residents of arctic regions, he'll discuss with you the range of human interactions with the environment in the frozen north—a frontline of studies of climate change.

What do we know about the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and what is the evidence of the relationships between carbon and climate? Learn about the longest-running experiment measuring the impact of rising atmospheric CO2 on land ecosystems. How is climate change affecting biodiversity on Earth? Learn how animal species around the world that have been impacted by shifting climates.

Scott Wing will share with us the exciting story of his discoveries about the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, a period over 55 million years ago when the average temperature of Earth warmed nine degrees in a geological instant. Wing's work on plant fossils shows that the rapid warming was accompanied by decreasing rainfall and a radical shift in where plants lived.