Global Warming

A monstrous storm swamps the globe, causing a hurricane to destroy everything in its path. New York is frozen; fist-sized hail batters Tokyo and snow falls in New Delhi. Welcome to the brink of the new ice age. After decades of disaster movies, bringing to life floods, asteroids, earthquakes and even alien attacks, Hollywood has taken on the big one - global warming.

In the $180 million movie The Day After Tomorrow, our greatest fears are realised in a collision of catastrophes never before seen on the big screen. The film looks at what might happen to the world if current trends involving "global warming" continue. It paints a stark picture of the horrors of a possible rapid climate change and the vulnerability of humanity under such circumstances.

Climate change has been the subject of study, discussion and debate for some years but humanity has been slow to react to the potential awareness of what could happen to our species if the worst case scenario occurs.

Activities

• Australians are among the world's top carbon dioxide producers (about 14 tonnes per head per year. Mostly from deforestation and burning fossil fuels. Where are we up to with the Kyoto Protocol? Discuss what you can do to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Present a case to plant a carbon "sink" to trap greenhouse emissions in your town.

• Find examples of responsible attitudes towards the environment in your school or local community, e.g. Landcare volunteers.

• How would global warming effect your choices about the resources you use daily? List 10 choices you could make. Draw a flow chart to show how one of your choices could make a difference to the environment. For example you could choose a manual toothbrush over an electric toothbrush so as to use less electricity, which is made by burning fossil fuel which would increase the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and increase the greenhouse effect.

• Look at an atlas and identify the countries that have the most forests. What are the main reasons given for clearing the land? Present in table format.

• Graph the levels of pollution and temperatures for your region over four weeks. Is there a pattern? Can any movement of the pollution statistics be attributed to climatic change? How will an increase in the earth's surface temperature affect pollution levels?

• List the possible outcomes of changing weather patterns e.g. famine, change in deep sea currents, etc.

• Why do scientists predict sea levels will rise due to global warming? Draw two silhouettes of the Hobart skyline as it appears now and as it would appear in 2100 if water levels rose 1m.

• Draw a diagram showing one of the possible effects of global warming on the planet and present this to the class.

• What information and data would be required by a computer to model the world's atmospheres and oceans?

• Before controls were introduced in NSW in 1997 150,000 ha of vegetation was cleared each year. At that rate how much would have been cleared between 97-2004? What percentage of the state would that represent?

• Respond to these quotes:
• "Winter is still cold there can't be any global warming effect!"
• "I read the earth is compensating for global warming by getting wetter"
• "Why is global warming such an issue? All we have to do is stop burning fossil fuels and plant more forests!"
• "The earth is resilient and living things adapt, so what's the big deal about global warming?"

• Do you think the debate on global warming is between capitalists and environmentalists? Design two posters one for each party supporting their cases.

• Respond to the Editor of The Mercury about global warming and the environmental and social issues surrounding it. Summarise the main points of your discussion and submit a copy to 50/50. See the publishing requirements in the paper.

Websites

CSIRO

http://www.csiro.au

The CSIRO is among the world leaders in climate research. Enter global warming or greenhouse effect in the search engine and you will find plenty of current articles on the latest research.

The Day After Tomorrrow

http://www.thedayaftertomorrow.com

There are some great multimedia click-ons at this site, with clips from the news on real weather phenomena and clips from the film showing how things could go drastically wrong. It might be a bit slow if you don't have cable access.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration- Global Warming FAQ

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

A quick overview of all the most asked questions about global warming by one of the leading agencies researching the phenomenon.

Books

The Day After Tomorrow

By Whitley Streiber

The novel of the film of the potential disaster heading our way. Includes plenty of detail about global warming wrapped in an action/adventure/human drama (Orion).

Climate Change

By Justin Healey

Features some of the latest articles, information and debates on climate change in a student friendly format (Spinney Press).

Air Pollution

By Matthew Chapman & Rob Bowden

An excellent primer for younger students on the problems with and effects of air pollution, including its impact on climate change (Wayland).

Plague Species

By Reg Morrison

Okay so we know that pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, clearing forests and burning fossil fuels is not good for the environment and could end up changing the climate we find so comfortable. So why do we continue to do it? Reg Morrison has an interesting theory- it's in our genes, we just can't help ourselves (New Holland).

Wonders of the Weather

By Bob Crowder

Information about all kinds of weather and about climate change, with a particular emphasis on Australia (Bureau of Meteorology).

Eyewitness Weather

By Brian Cosgrove

An illustrated tour through our weather systems, how we study them, make predictions and how the weather could be changing (Dorling Kindersley).

Places and things to see

The Day After Tomorrow (M 15+)

This is a Hollywood blockbuster, dealing more with the human drama and perhaps over-dramatising what might happen. But this movie was created with the cooperation of climate researchers and consequently could help to raise awareness of the potential dangers of messing with our climate.

Wild Weather

An excellent series from the ABC featuring journalist and adventurer Donald MacIntyre on a journey to experience the world's wildest weather. State of the art 3D animations also take you right into the previously unseen heart of Wild Weather. Available from ABC Shops on video or DVD.