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Episode: C l i m a t e C h a n g e i n t h e C a r o l i n a s
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EXPLORING NORTH CAROLINA
T E AC H E R S
USEFUL VOCABULARY
carbon dioxide
climate change
Ice Age
ice core sampling
glacier
greenhouse gases
CHAPTER 1 (1:55–3:57)
1. Why is North Carolina expected to experience an “intermediate” level
of climate change?
North Carolina is located between the poles and the Tropics.
2. Current warming in our climate is expected to raise temperatures in
North Carolina by _____ degrees and ocean levels by approximately
_____ inches.
5­9; 18.
3. According to the video, what two major factors will affect our climate in
the decades and centuries to come?
The natural warming and cooling cycles known as the Ice Ages; humans
adding increasing amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
CHAPTER 2 (3:58–10:53)
4. What is the difference between a glacial episode and an interglacial
episode?
A glacial episode is a period when the global climate cools, glaciers form
and sea levels decrease; an interglacial episode occurs when the climate
warms, glaciers melt and sea levels rise.
5. We have been in the current interglacial period for approximately
_________ years.
16,000­18,000.
6. During the last glacial episode, where was the glacial ice closest to
North Carolina?
Northern Virginia.
7. If ice sheets did not actually cover North Carolina, how did the glacial
episode affect North Carolina’s geography?
Changes in ocean levels helped to form our estuaries and coastal
marine system.
8. What evidence do we have that Earth’s warming and cooling cycles
affected North Carolina geography?
Peat bogs on beaches where islands have migrated westward; inland
shorelines and bluffs containing marine shells and coral deposits; core
samples from deep river sediment showing the timing and sequencing
of sea level change and climate change.
View of Earth photograph courtesy of NASA.
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for teachers
Climate Change in the Carolinas: Viewing Guide 1
CHAPTER 3 (10:54–11:59)
9. Ice core sampling gives us detailed records of which two climate factors from the past?
Global temperatures and carbon dioxide.
10. Graphs of temperature change and atmospheric carbon dioxide correlate fairly closely until about 1780. What started in the 1780s, and how did it affect the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? The Industrial Revolution began, and the burning of fossil fuels began increasing the CO2
content in the atmosphere.
CHAPTER 4 (12:00–19:24)
11. Why do scientists use the analogy of a greenhouse to describe the current warming trend in our atmosphere?
Certain gases in Earth’s atmosphere act like a greenhouse—trapping the sun’s light and heat
energy inside the atmosphere and causing the climate to warm.
12. What have scientists at Duke University been studying in the FACE experiment? The effect that increased CO2 has on forests and plant growth.
13. Name some direct effects of increased CO2 levels on the surrounding forests in the FACE study?
18 percent average increased growth in pine trees; 70 percent increased growth in poison ivy in the forest; increased production of pollen and seeds in pine trees.
14. How are the effects of climate change most evident in the Arctic?
Arctic sea ice has decreased from 3 to 4 meters thick to about 1 to 2 meters thick over the past 30 years (a 40 percent decrease). CHAPTER 5 (19:26­25:45)
15. What are some of the changes that scientists expect to see in North Carolina as a result of climate change?
Extremes of climate: drier climate, increased evaporation rates, widespread drought; increased
presence of insects and pathogens that may affect human health; increased ocean temperatures
that likely will result in greater hurricane intensity; inward migration of coastal ecosystems;
upward migration and possible extinction of highland “boreal forest” ecosystems.
16. What do we need to do as individuals and as a society to reduce the potential impact of climate change?
Reduce our carbon footprint, the amount of CO2 we release into the atmosphere; rethink
how we plan and build infrastructure now and in the future.
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