Climate Change Lesson 8 : Climate Change Indicators
1. Climate Change Indicators, produced by EPA, is a series of slides that show similar indicators with explanations. It is found on the MEECS Climate Change Resource DVD along with the summary pages.
2. An alternative to the EPA PowerPoint is Climate Ready Great Lakes Training Module 1 prepared by Michigan Sea Grant. Climate change impacts covered include lake levels, ice cover, severe weather, ecosystem changes, human health, and economy. Follow up with a discussion of the Michigan Sea Grant reading on Preparing for Variable Lake Levels and Preparing for Extremes: the Dynamic Great Lakes. Both resources are found on the MEECS Climate Change Resource DVD and at http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/downloads/climate/11-700-Preparing-for-Variable-Lake-Levels.pdf or http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/downloads/climate/11-700-Preparing-for-Variable-Lake-Levels.pdf
3. Explore Your Eco-Region is an interactive site where students can look at the climate impacts in the regions that they studied in a previous lesson. See http://www.globalchange.gov/resources/ educators/toolkit/explore
4. Have students research more of the climate effects projected for Michigan using a variety of websites (e.g. Union of Concerned Scientists, National Wildlife Federation, GLISA, The Nature Conservancy, Michigan Climate Coalition, Pileus Project). A question to answer would be whether all of these sites are in agreement in their projections.