The world's surface air temperature is getting warmer. Whether the cause is human activity or natural changes in the Earth System—and the enormous body of evidence says it’s humans—thermometer readings all around the world have risen steadily since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. 

In this story map students will learn about what air pollution is, its environmental impact, the standards used to describe air quality as defined by the Clean Air Act, and the Earth System interactions that drive the transport of air pollution.

Air quality is a measure of the pollution level in the air. Polluted air can be caused by many things. There are manmade and natural sources of emissions. 

In this lesson, students will explore the effect of aerosols on sky color and visibility by using an interactive virtual model. 

This video addresses the following question: "We know that there are a number of ways that data can be visualized. Would you please describe your process for looking at the same data as represented by different graph types and how this helps inform your meaning making from the data?"

This video addresses the following question: "We know that the science you do is driven by the big questions around Earth System Science. Could you please describe how you shape the questions that you ask before, during, and after you have collected data, how do you initially look at these data to help explore your initial set of questions?"

This video addresses the following question: "As you think about exploring the data that you have collected, what are the approaches that you use to organize your data and/or process your data before you make meaning from the data?"

This video addresses the following question: "As you look at a data set(s) that has been collected, could you help us understand how you use data visualizations to shape new questions to explore further in the data set(s)?"

This video addresses the following question: "As you think about how you use data visualization(s) to communicate your findings with others, can you describe how you refine the visualization(s) that you present to better support the story that you are sharing with the data visualization?"

This video addresses the following question: "We know that science is very much an iterative process. Can you describe for us your process for developing your follow-up questions after you have interpreted a set of data?"