Cornell Cooperative Extension

Niagara County
EPA online interactive map of biggest greenhouse gas polluters, from: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/epa-releases-interactive-map-of-us-biggest-polluters/

EPA map showing numbers of facilities emitting high levels of greenhouse gases

Climate Change

At its core, climate change simply indicates "any significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time" ( EPA). Global climate change is often spoken of in tandem with global warming, which refers to the recent warming trends in the average temperature of the Earth.

Fact sheets on climate change, written for the general public:

More fact sheets in this series will be added in the next few months, including fact sheets on Ecosystem Impacts; Water Resources; and Shorelines (with NY Sea Grant).

The Greenhouse Effect

Much like the glass of a greenhouse, the Earth's atmosphere keeps heat contained to a level that allows life to flourish. The atmosphere consists of water vapor, nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases, which include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The general warming of the planet is being caused by an increase in these trace gases, often called 'greenhouse gases', which then trap increasing amounts of heat. Less of the infrared heat that is emitted by the Earth is able to pass through the atmosphere when these gases are increased, and instead reflect back, warming the Earth's surface more than usual.

Greenhouse Effect

Greenhouse gases are emitted during the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil and natural gas). The Environmental Protection Agency has new interactive map showing the facilities that emit a large amount of greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse Gases

Consequences

The changing climate is interfering with natural cycles, causing extreme weather events, raising sea levels1 as glaciers and ice caps melt, and threatening many species with extinction as their environment changes and the oceans become increasingly acidic.

Check out this interactive coastal vulnerability map from the White House website.

1. Hausfather, Zeke. The Global Climate in Context- 2013 in Review. The Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media. 3 Feb. 2014.

Last updated August 16, 2023

Climate Change

Climate Literacy

Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Sciences provides a well-vetted overview of the fundamental concepts of climate science. A sister project, the Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) offers a catalog of high quality resources and teaching tips.

Climate 101 with Bill Nye, a 4 1/2 minute long video.

The Sciencenter in Ithaca created an online Climate Change Toolkit, a suite of climate change education resources for formal and informal educators at schools, museums and other venues.

For videos explaining climate change, visit : www.HowGlobalWarmingWorks.org. They have a 52-second version, and the lengths range up to a 5-minute video, so you can pick the level of detail you want and the amount of time you want to commit to watching.

Rethinking Climate Change

Warmest Years

  • The year 2013 ties with 2003 as the fourth warmest year globally since records began in 1880. The annual global combined land and ocean surface temperature was 0.62°C (1.12°F) above the 20th century average of 13.9°C (57.0°F). This marks the 37th consecutive year (since 1976) that the yearly global temperature was above average. Currently, the warmest year on record is 2010, which was 0.66°C (1.19°F) above average. Including 2013, 9 of the 10 warmest years in the 134-year period of record have occurred in the 21st century. Only one year during the 20th century-1998-was warmer than 2013. Read more at National Climate Data Center, part of NOAA

The Past 150 Years and the Next 100 Years. An MIT panel (April 2011) that seeks to “create a civil discourse (on climate change) that helps us understand better the varied concerns of people on the topic," say moderator John Reilly.

Climate Kids

Check out the latest educational game from NASA’s Climate Kids—OFFSET! Take matters into your own hands and help cut back on carbon emissions. Part pong, part resource-management, and 100% retro, this game is challenging, exciting, and educational. Play it today! http://climatekids.nasa.gov/offset/

Weather vs Climate

Weird Weather

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Global warming can be hard to imagine during long, cold winters. However, the weather in one location does not represent the climate as a whole. Though some years may be colder than others in some places, the average temperatures of the planet are rising.

Visit the Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media for a look at the weather of 2013 in the context of long-term climate trends.

The EPA has provided charts showing the increase in greenhouse gases between 247,426 BC and the present.

Click here for NASA's analysis of natural vs. anthropogenic changes in the twentieth century.

See the newly created Cornell Climate Change website for many more resources, recent news, and upcoming events.

Earth: Operators' Manual

PBS program on climate change. Earth: The Operators’ Manual dispenses with politics, polemics or punditry; instead, it presents an objective, accessible assessment of the Earth’s problems and possibilities that will leave viewers informed, energized and optimistic. (April 2011)

Watch Earth: The Operators' Manual.

Climate Change & NYS

ClimAID: the Integrated Assessment for Effective Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in New York State is a state-level assessment of climate change. It was undertaken to provide decision-makers with cutting- edge information on the state's vulnerability to climate change and to facilitate the development of adaptation strategies informed by both local experience and scientific knowledge.

Read information suggested by climate scientists for the public at RealClimate. CAMEL is a interdisciplinary multi-media resource for educations to enable them to effectively teach about climate change.