In this lesson, students will investigate the drivers of climate change, including adding carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, sea level rise, and the effect of decreasing sea ice on temperatures.

Chemists study atomic and molecular structures and their interactions. 

Students will watch and examine a NASA animation of Earth’s rising surface temperatures over an almost 150 year period.

This activity is one of a series in the collection, The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change activities. 

Students move through a series of short activities to explore and evaluate global solar radiation data from NASA satellites.  In this process, students make qualitative and quantitative observations about seasonal variations in net energy input to the Earth System.