Lesson 2: Climate Change
What is climate change and why is it important to act now?
This module breaks down the science behind climate change and answers what climate change is, how it works, why it happens, how human activity is connected to it and why we are running out of time. This module focuses on the root causes of climate change and looks at how we know what we know.
Complementary resources
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103 results
A witty and eye-opening book presenting 99 maps that reveal startling facts about our planet's environmental crisis.
"A Climate for Change" addresses global warming facts and misconceptions, offering a faith-based perspective from a climate scientist and a pastor.
In a post-climate change future, Kyo uncovers a diary revealing Earth's past and the events leading to humanity's downfall.
A captivating guide for ages 9-14, explaining climate change with photos, illustrations, and charts, by former Scholastic editor Jack L. Roberts.
David Attenborough's "A Life on Our Planet" reflects on environmental decline and offers a hopeful vision for a sustainable future.
"After Nature: A Politics for the Anthropocene" explores the political implications of the Anthropocene era, where human impact shapes the planet.
A gripping saga of survival and hope in a post-apocalyptic world, where Myra and her daughter Pearl embark on a perilous journey to find Row.
Discover "Annihilation: A Novel," the first book in Jeff VanderMeer's acclaimed Southern Reach Trilogy. Award-winning and translated worldwide.
Generational starship travels to Tau Ceti's Aurora, questioning humanity's future in this compelling novel by Kim Stanley Robinson.
"Barkskins: A Novel" by Annie Proulx — A New York Times best-selling epic on the demise of world forests, spanning 300 years of history.
"Braiding Sweetgrass" intertwines Indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge, revealing profound ecological insights through the teachings of plants.
A round-up of all of Carbon Brief’s article published over the past seven days on climate science, climate policy and energy policy.
How much must global net CO2 emissions be reduced to meet the Paris Agreement? Carbon Budget Calculator has all the data and in-depth explainers.
This movie shows how important and beautiful underwater corals are, and why we need to protect them.
We make Climate Risk understandable and climate information more accessible to the broader communities.
Climate Change Academy's courses provide a non-technical entry point to the climate space, making getting started accessible with guided pathways through the best resources out there in an order that makes sense.
Free and paid cources by "shortlisted-productions" on climate change challenges and solutions.
Accurate, up-to-date climate change data and insights from trusted scientific sources, empowering individuals and communities to take informed action against global climate threats. Beautifully designed, easy to understand and share.
Essential primer on climate change by Joseph Romm, offering clear, scientific answers on the state and impact of our warming planet.
Climate One provides a comprehensive overview of the latest climate-related news, innovations, and policies.
Learn about the ESG regulations most relevant to your company. For corporates in EU, US & UK
NASA's Climate Kids offers games, activities, and articles to make climate science accessible for kids aged 8 and up, highlighting NASA's Earth studies.
Understand climate change with ClimateScience.org's science-backed resources, including interactive blog posts and courses created by climate scientists.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) provides information about the past, present and future climate in Europe and the rest of the World.
Coursera partners with more than 275 leading universities and companies to bring flexible, affordable, job-relevant online learning to individuals and organizations worldwide.
"Dire Predictions" offers a visually engaging guide to IPCC climate findings, separating fact from fiction on global warming with clear, accurate graphics.
Weekly videos about how we can solve the climate crisis from Deutsche Welle (DW) a German broadcaster.
Learn about climate change with online courses from major universities and institutions worldwide. Edx offers both individual courses and advanced programs
Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Proulx explores the history and destruction of wetlands, highlighting their crucial role in preserving the environment.
Elizabeth Kolbert's updated classic on climate change, now with new chapters on ocean acidification, tar sands, and a carbon-neutral Danish town.
Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver delves into class, poverty, and climate change through a compelling and lyrical narrative.
The Global Carbon Project provides comprehensive data on carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions, tracking their sources and impacts across global, urban, and regional levels.
Global Tipping Points, led by Professor Tim Lenton from the University of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute, features insights from over 200 researchers across 26 countries. Launched at COP28 on 6 December 2023, the report assesses risks and opportunities of tipping points in the Earth system and society.
Global Tipping Points, led by Professor Tim Lenton from the University of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute, features insights from over 200 researchers across 26 countries. Launched at COP28 on 6 December 2023, the report assesses risks and opportunities of tipping points in the Earth system and society.
This is the story of how we discovered the planet was warming, and why.
The story of how one man cost us a world with less than 2°C of warming in 1989.
A woman utilizes ancient beekeeping traditions to cultivate honey in the mountains of North Macedonia. When a neighboring family tries to do the same, it becomes a source of tension as they disregard her wisdom and advice.
A leading scholar analyzes world population growth, current limits, and future prospects with Earth's carrying capacity in mind.
Bill Gates outlines strategies to achieve net-zero emissions and shares insights on climate change solutions and technological innovations.
Kyoto2 offers an innovative solution to global warming through a regulated greenhouse gas trading system, addressing flaws in the Kyoto Protocol.
Roy Scranton's "Learning to Die in the Anthropocene" blends memoir, philosophy, and science to address climate change's existential threat.
Pope Francis' "Let Us Dream" explores making the world safer, fairer, and healthier, drawing on personal crises and global insights.
Updated insights on global resource use and sustainability from leading environmental scientists Meadows, Randers, and Meadows.
Love in the Anthropocene blends fiction and philosophy to explore future environmental decline and the enduring power of love.
"Merchants of Doubt" reveals how a few scientists misled the public on tobacco smoke, acid rain, and global warming over four decades.
From the unique vantage point in space, NASA collects critical long-term observations of our changing planet.
All about the "natural" gas industry's environmental and economic impacts. Covers methane leaks, it impacts, LNG and more.
Bestselling author Kim Stanley Robinson envisions a future New York City in 2140, where rising sea levels transform every street into a canal.
In the remote Eastern Himalayas, two observers decode the secretive world of nocturnal moths, unveiling hidden interconnections within the natural world through an immersive exploration.
In 1983, the U.N. formed the World Commission on Environment and Development to address global sustainability, led by Gro Harlem Brundtland.
Leading ecologist Peter F. Sale explores coral reef extinction, environmental issues, and solutions in "Our Dying Planet."
Our Only Home by The Dalai Lama calls for urgent climate action, highlighting the severe impacts of climate change and advocating for a sustainable future.
Up to date data, statistics and graphs on climate change, CO2 emissions by country, sectors and more. Perfect to digest facts quickly.
A field scientist tracks Blakiston's Fish Owl in eastern Russia, revealing the challenges and beauty of their conservation.
Parable of the Sower: A New York Times bestseller by Octavia E. Butler. A gripping dystopian novel where a young woman navigates a chaotic world.
Discover what happens if CO2 turned pink in this engaging, timely book for kids and adults on climate change and imagination.
In 2075 Alaska, climate refugees flee north as global warming causes food, fuel, and shelter scarcity across the globe.
Filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, along with activists, scientists and others, draws attention to mankind's role in a potential loss of at least half of the world's species.
A lyrical exploration of climate change's impact on America's shores, blending personal stories and reportage to reveal stark realities.
Science Vs is your team of friendly fact checkers that blow up your firmly held opinions and replace them with science. Science Vs has an ep for that.
Rachel Carson's "Sea Around Us" explores ocean origins, life evolution, and volcanic islands in a natural history trilogy.
A young aspiring journalist investigates his father's mysterious murder within the boundaries of one of Kenya's largest wildlife conservancies. As a ravaging drought encroaches, his quest to find the killer shifts as the collateral damage of a warming world is revealed.
With a PhD in atmospheric physics, Simon Clark makes videos about atmospheric science and climate change, but also maths, physics, history, etymology, and video games.
An in-depth look at global warming's impact, Six Degrees details future environmental consequences through accessible prose based on scientific research.
Climate change: It's real, and our response will take two forms: slowing it down if we can ... and learning to live with the change we can't stop anymore. Watch these TED Talks for a primer on the issue of our times.
A gripping novel by James Lawrence Powell, "The 2084 Report" explores a future ravaged by climate change through vivid, fictional oral histories.
John Kricher debunks the enduring myth of nature's balance, demonstrating its dynamic, ever-changing state influenced by evolution.
A gripping tale of the Larsen-Hall family facing upheaval and transformation after a catastrophic hurricane upends their privileged life.
J.G. Ballard's 1962 novel "The Drowned World" envisions a future where global warming transforms London into a primal jungle dominated by giant creatures.
Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz envisions Earth's future, exploring humanity's legacy through rock strata and fossilized remnants in a thought-provoking journey.
A seminal work on environmental crisis by Bill McKibben, addressing issues like the greenhouse effect, acid rain, and ozone depletion.
A pioneering work on climate change, blending personal reflection with scientific insight, essential for understanding our environmental crisis.
Explore Earth's past mass extinctions and survival through volcanic apocalypses and lethal oceans in Peter Brannen's insightful book.
A collection of the New Yorker's critical reporting on climate change, featuring influential works from Bill McKibben, Elizabeth Kolbert, and more.
Amitav Ghosh's "The Great Derangement" explores our failure to grasp climate change's scale through literature, history, and politics.
Discover the evolution of free-market thought from the Great Depression to the rise of modern conservatism in "The Great Persuasion."
A contemporary tale of adventure, love, and identity set in the Sundarbans, from award-winning author Amitav Ghosh.
A visionary novel by Kim Stanley Robinson, depicting climate change through fictional accounts, chosen by Barack Obama as a favorite read of 2020.
The Overstory: A Novel intertwines diverse fables from antebellum New York to the Pacific Northwest's Timber Wars, revealing humanity's bond with trees.
The Progress Playbook™ focuses on proven ideas for a better world. We cover the policies and projects that are succeeding in driving sustainable development, and that could be replicated elsewhere.
The Rough Guide to Climate Change provides a comprehensive overview of climate change, exploring scientific research, political debates, and solutions.
Scientists are monitoring a sixth mass extinction, more devastating than the dinosaurs' extinction, caused by human actions.
An on-the-ground documentary capturing the Uru-eu-wau-wau's courageous fight against deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, featuring stunning cinematography and unprecedented access to both Indigenous communities and illegal settlers over three years.
We're nearly halfway through the 2020s, dubbed the most decisive decade for action on climate change. Where exactly do things stand? Climate impact scholar Johan Rockström offers the most up-to-date scientific assessment of the state of the planet and explains what must be done to preserve Earth's resilience to human pressure.
Discover abrupt climate change through ice cores in Richard B. Alley's updated edition of "The Two-Mile Time Machine."
An eye-opening account of rising sea levels, sinking cities, and the future remaking of our world by acclaimed journalist Jeff Goodell.
An international best seller, Tim Flannery's "The Weather Makers" offers a comprehensive account of climate change history, status, and future impact.
Incisive portrait of two scientists, Norman Borlaug and William Vogt, whose opposing views shape our future on food, water, energy, and climate change.
A visual guide to climate change with infographics on scientific findings, human impact, frequent storms, and ocean changes.
Elizabeth Kolbert's "Under a White Sky" examines humanity's drastic effects on nature and explores innovative solutions to save the environment.
Discover what climate science truly reveals and what remains uncertain in Steven Koonin's "Unsettled," a Wall Street Journal bestseller.
High-quality, innovative, free training programs for organisations and individuals working on human rights, peace, security, and sustainable development.
Conservation scientist and UCLA visiting researcher Dr. M. Sanjayan explores the surprising ways we can change how we think and act about climate change.
A young couple faces emotional and literal turmoil in a Vermont town threatened by a catastrophic storm in "We Are Unprepared."
The book "What About Me?" by Paul Verhaeghe explores the impact of neoliberalism and market-based society on individual identity and mental health.
Discover why scientific knowledge's social character makes it trustworthy. Naomi Oreskes defends science through history, philosophy, and expert insights.
Discover how global warming creates business opportunities for entrepreneurs worldwide in McKenzie Funk's investigative book, "Windfall."
When an extreme weather event occurs, people often ask: is climate change to blame? World Weather Attribution runs studies and models to find out.
What to do with this
All 3 actions for this lesson. Open an action to explore its tools, products and companies. Actions are ordered by impact rating.
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Individual
ImpactEffortAn in depth knowledge of climate science and numbers will help you make better decisions and have more impactful conversations.
Individual
ImpactEffortDo the Climate Guide, a comprehensive video course on climate change and individual action. Learn about the climate crisis, its ties to daily life, and the impactful steps you can take to help mitigate it. By completing the climate actions in the climate guide, you will create the biggest impact an individual can have! Try adding this action to your account, by clicking **"🎯 I am working on it"**.
Community
ImpactEffortExpand your impact by inviting a friend to join the Climate Guide. Together, you can learn, act, and make a significant difference in tackling climate change. The more people we reach and involve in climate action, the greater the collective impact. Your invitation could set off a ripple effect of change.
Reflection
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