CO2 in the Ice Core Record

Provided by: Earth: The Operators' Manual |Published on: April 27, 2021

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Synopsis

In this video, geologist Richard Alley visits the National Ice Core Lab to explain how scientists use ancient ice cores to understand the history of climate on Earth.
Students will learn how scientists use ice cores to determine how carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have changed over hundreds of thousands of years.

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Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences

Authors: Earth: The Operators' Manual

Region: Europe, Polar Regions

Languages: English

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Teaching Materials

Positives

Students will enjoy seeing the interior of the National Ice Core Lab.

Additional Prerequisites

Ads may play before the video.
The video explains that we "blew past 380" when referencing atmospheric carbon dioxide, this number has changed since the video was produced. For the most recent data, teachers can check the NOAA website.
This segment is part of a series of videos hosted by geologist Richard Alley.

Differentiation

Teachers could draw stratification on the board to explain ice cores and paleoclimate. Students could discuss how the ice strata contain air bubbles from thousands of years ago.
After the video, teachers can go back to 2 minutes, 12 seconds, and ask students to think about the correlation between carbon dioxide levels and temperature. Students could discuss how the rapid rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels is affecting Earth's climate.
Other resources on this topic include this PBS video on how scientists analyze the gases in ice cores, and this video that features scientists taking ice core samples in Antarctica.

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CO2 in the Ice Core Record

Synopsis

Teaching Materials

Scientist Reviewed

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