MS-ESS3-5
Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
- Climate
Explainer: How scientists know Earth is warming
Scientists can calculate global temperatures, both present and past. Their findings show that the planet is rapidly heating up.
- Fossils
Clues to the Great Dying
Millions of years ago, nearly all life on Earth vanished. Scientists are now starting to figure out what happened.
- Oceans
Carbon dioxide levels rise fast and high
The buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising faster than at any time since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. The burning of fossil fuels is largely to blame.
- Climate
Warming’s role in extreme weather
Extremes in temperature and precipitation will be more common as global temperatures rise. Human-led climate change is largely to blame, a new study finds.
- Environment
Arctic warming bolsters summer heat
Rapid warming in the Arctic is sapping summer storms of their power to cool. That worsens heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere.
- Climate
Buildings may be chasing L.A.’s fog away
Roads and buildings that have mushroomed up around Los Angeles in the past half-century. Now, a study finds they may have created conditions that limit fog. And that could further dry out this very arid part of America’s West Coast.
- Climate
Scientists confirm ‘greenhouse’ effect of human’s CO2
Government scientists link directly, for the first time, a boost in warming at Earth’s surface to increasing levels of carbon dioxide. Much of that gas has been released by human activities, such as coal burning and gas-burning vehicles.
- Climate
Fast sea level rise is a very recent change
Sea levels have been rising for more than a century. But that rise is now speeding up. That suggests that what is driving the rise — climate change — also has increased dramatically in recent years.
- Fossils
Tar pit clues provide ice age news
New analyses of insects and mammals trapped in the La Brea Tar Pits point to climate surprises during the last ice age.
- Climate
World leaders call for action on climate change
This week, the presidents of China and the United States pledged to take aggressive action on the release of greenhouse gases to head off dire worldwide climate effects.
- Earth
How people have been shaping the Earth
We are the dominant force of change on Earth. Some experts propose naming our current time period the ‘Anthropocene’ to reflect our impact.
- Microbes
Recycling the dead
When things die, nature breaks them down through a process we know as rot. Without it, none of us would be here. Now, scientists are trying to better understand it so that they can use rot — preserving its role in feeding all living things.
