Week 12: Climate Change

Big question: Is the Goldfinch in danger? 

In lab this week, we started by discussing the film Before the Flood. Then, we looked at NASA imaging to look at human impacts on the environment. 

We also looked at evidence for why the Goldfinch might be in danger. The evidence we found was: 

• Precipitation has greatly increased --> molds, poisoning via pesticide runoff
• Humidity increases
• Bodies of water may get polluted
• Pollution in general
• Food sources may be affected
• If it warms up unseasonably early, all the insects will come out, then die, and there won't be any food for the hatched Goldfinches later in the spring season. 

We took the Earth science exam this week. 

Pressbook

• What did you learn? 
• Climate can be understood as patterns in weather. Climate does not affect weather. Weather, measured over long periods of time, affects climate. 
• Iowa and Iowa City are experiencing the impacts of climate change right now; it's not just a future problem. 
• Scientists predict that average temperatures in Iowa will increase by up to 6 degrees by 2050. 
• While we may experience some short-term benefits from climate change, such as having longer growing seasons for crops, the benefits do not outweigh the overall costs. 
• We can take some personal steps to decrease our carbon footprint. 
• What was most helpful? 
• The LOWER Mountains acronym was very helpful for remembering the ways temperature and weather are affected. 
• The graphs and diagrams representing changes in climate, temperature rises, etc. helped me visualize the problem we're dealing with. 
• What do you need more information on? 
• Nothing I can think of!