What Is Causing the Earth to Warm?
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Provided by: Paleontological Research Institution|Published on: August 9, 2022
Videos
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This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This informational video uses animated graphs, pictures, and climate models to describe the many causes of climate fluctuations on Earth including Milankovitch Cycles, solar output, volcanic eruptions, changes in reflectivity, ground-level ozone, and greenhouse gases.
- It clearly outlines the data showing the contributions of each to our current climate and is an excellent video to help climate deniers understand the evidence and data.

Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences
Authors: Paleontological Research Institution, Ingrid Zabel
Region: Global
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- The complicated processes in the video are broken down and explained thoroughly.
- The graphs used are shown in layers, so the effect of each factor can be seen independently.
Additional Prerequisites
- An ad may play before the video.
- Students should be comfortable reading and interpreting graphs.
- Students should have a good understanding of climate change factors and be familiar with the metric system.
Differentiation
- This video could be presented to adults, the general public, parents, students, or clubs as a clear, factual, and unbiased presentation of the facts.
- This would be a great video to introduce the concept of Milankovitch cycles and climate models to science students.
- Chemistry classes could use the climate models presented to show the effect of combustion reactions and could work backward from the temperature increase to find the initial amount of reactants.
- Students could use the information presented to make their own climate change predictions for the future and present them to the class.
- Some related resources are this StC lesson plan where students use graphs to make their own climate change predictions, this video Milankovitch Cycles Precession and Obliquity, and this lesson plan Fusion Energy and Climate Change.
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About the Partner Provider

Paleontological Research Institution
Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) is a national leader in Earth systems science education. They strive to help make sense of the present and potential future climate change, while also increasing understanding of global change in Earth’s past. Their programs focus on systems thinking, understanding scale and learning in your own backyard.
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →




