Hurricanes and Climate Change
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Provided by: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative|Published on: April 27, 2021
Lesson PlansScientist Reviewed
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Scientist Reviewed 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 resource about hurricanes and climate change includes a lesson plan, student worksheet, podcast, discussion, interactive computer modeling, and a graphing and data analysis exercise.
- Students will learn about how hurricanes form, the economic costs of these storms, how climate change is making these storms more extreme, and what some coastal communities are doing to adapt.
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Engineering, Computer Science
Authors: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
Region: Global
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- The podcast provides a great explanation of the science behind hurricane formation.
- The educator guide can help incorporate this topic into many subject areas including science, math, English language arts, and design.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should know how to graph data.
- A timestamped transcript accompanies the podcast for offline use.
Differentiation
- The economic costs of hurricanes are discussed, which could be used to open a conversation on trade-offs between the costs of climate change and the costs to implement solutions.
- To add a more personal component that students could connect to, explore these Youth Climate Stories from Florida, Puerto Rico, and North Carolina.
- Other resources on hurricanes include the lesson plan Hurricanes, the NOAA Hurricane Tracker, and the video How Climate Change Has Intensified Hurricane Season.
Scientist Notes
Teaching Tips
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Resource Type and Format
About the Partner Provider
MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
Founded in 2014, the Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI) is MIT’s institute-wide effort to mobilize the substantial scientific, engineering, policy, and design capacity of the MIT community to contribute to addressing climate change and other environmental challenges of global import. ESI pursues multidisciplinary research, education, events, and partnerships to help move society toward an environmentally and socially sustainable future. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts on MIT’s main campus, ESI is powered by a lean staff working closely with students and faculty across the full spectrum of disciplines. Led by architecture professor John E. Fernandez, a leading scholar in the emerging field of urban metabolism, ESI is advised by students, faculty, alumni, and thought leaders from many sectors of society.
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 →
