Download Using Web-based Data Sets to Enhance Student

Using Web-based Data Sets to Enhance Student
Understanding of Climate Change and Data Analysis
Kathryn A. Hoppe
Green River Community College, Auburn, Washington
Goals:
Student Preparation:
1. Make simple observation of graph-based data & discuss how
to recognize patterns (or a lack of any pattern).
2. Discuss how climatic patterns vary over different geographic
& temporal scales.
3. Discuss how local geography & economic conditions are
predicted to change as climatic conditions changes.
- This exercise is aimed at entry-level undergraduates.
- Students should know how to navigate the WWW and have basic
graph-reading skills.
Description:
Students are asked to evaluate web-based data sets that show how CO2 levels
and temperatures have changed over the last 200 years and over the last 400,000
years. The EPA website provides many graphs of changes in greenhouse gasses over
both short and long-term time scales. Temperature data for the last ~200 years is
available from NASA in both a tabular and graphical format.
Students are asked a series of questions designed to get them to critically
evaluate the scale of changes, the signal to noise ratio of the data, and the
significance of long-term vs. short term trends. They are also asked to consider what
factors other than CO2 levels might affect local temperature records.
Finally, students are asked to read information provided by the Washington State
Department of Ecology about how local climatic conditions are predicted to change
and to discuss the local sociological and economic implications of future climatic
changes.
from the Washington State Dept. of Ecology web site.
Examples of on-line data sets and in-class discussion questions:
U.S. Temperature
Fig. 1. Mean surface air temperature in the contiguous 48 United
States (1.6% of the Earth's surface) relative to the 1951-1980
mean. (http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/)
Fig. 2. Mean global surface air temperature change relative to 19511980 mean. Green bars = 95% confidence limits for both the annual
and five-year means. (http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs)
Fig. 3. Changes in temperature (red line) and in atmospheric CO2 levels (yellow) over the past
649,000 years. The vertical red bar at the end is the increase in atmospheric CO2 levels over
the past two centuries. (http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/pastcc_fig1.html)
Students are asked to discuss factors including:
1. What is the noise to signal ratio of different data sets? / How do you determine if data show a significant trend?
2. What are the different temperature scales of regional vs. global temperatures and why is there a difference?
3. What is the relationship between CO2 and temperature over the last 400,000 years / How does the time scale of anthropogenic change compare with the those of prehistoric changes?
Websites used for this exercise:
Global CO2 levels over the last 200 years (from Global Warming Art): http://www.globalwarmingart.com/
CO2 levels & Antarctic temperatures over the last 650,000 yrs (from the EPA): http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/pastcc.html
Global fossil carbon emissions (from Wikipedia): http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Global_Carbon_Emission_by_Type_to_Y2004.png
Annual mean temperature change in the United States since 1880 (from NASA): http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/
Global annual mean surface air temperature change since 1880 (from NASA): http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/
Effects of climate change in Washington State (from the Washington State Dept. of Ecology): http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange
Contact Information for K. Hoppe: E-mail: [email protected], Webpage: http://www.instruction.greenriver.edu/khoppe/