CLIMATE CHANGE

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR WORLD?

• We use too much gas, so our atmosphere is overheating
• With rising temperatures the moisture in our environment
• When the temp rises, more moisture can be held in the air
• With more moisture in the air, the more rainfall and storms we have

TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE

• When our atmosphere heats, more and more polar ice caps melt
• When ice caps melt, the sea levels rise with so much more water
• The north pole begins to melt, the huge glaciers disappearing
• Many animals there will go extinct
• Do you want to be the one to kill a polar bear cub?

CAUSES (+EFFECTS)

• People are driving more, which adds more gases in the air
• More gas equals more heat, causing a hotter environment worldwide
• Hotter environment = melting polar ice caps = rising sea levels
• Rising sea levels=flooding of lowlands=REALLY BAD
• Melting polar ice caps create cold wind coming down

CAUSES (+EFFECTS)

• The air from the ice caps have nothing to block them
• With nothing to block winds, they speed up
• Rising winds create higher waves
• The combination of higer winds and waves helps create hurricanes

WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?

• Encourage people to walk or bike wherever they can
• Ride buses or the lightrail instead of driving
• Be cautious of how and where you build homes
• Increase protection for coasts, barrier islands, and lowlands

WEIRD WEATHER FROM THE PAST: TIMELINE

• San Francisco earthquake, devastating fires (1906
• Dust Bowl (1930s)
• Hurricane Katrina, death toll 1,833 (2005)
• Japanese tsunami and earthquake (2011)
• Hurricane Sandy, death toll 285 (2012)