Understanding global warming – The greenhouse effect and climate change
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Information sheet:
The heat radiated by Earth does not reach outer space unimpeded; some of it is absorbed and reflected in Earth’s atmosphere. Without this effect, we would be living in a permanent ice age on Earth.
English, Spanish (CREA), German
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2022-12-05
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This information sheet clears up the misconception that the greenhouse effect is basically something negative. In fact, without the natural greenhouse effect, life on Earth would not be possible at all. The current increase in global warming, however, is the result of a greenhouse effect intensified by people. The influence of this anthropogenic greenhouse effect on the natural greenhouse effect and the impacts are explained. The fundamental physical facts are presented, that is, radiation equilibrium and radiation absorption of molecules.
Information and ideas:
• The exact physical facts are not covered yet in grades 7 and 8. Therefore, teachers can delete all the information on radiation equilibrium and radiation absorption of molecules from the end of the Word version of the information sheet.
• Teachers can have their students look for possible ways of reducing the anthropogenically intensified greenhouse effect in the short, medium, or long term. Political, economic, and personal aspects can be discussed separately.
Information and ideas:
• The exact physical facts are not covered yet in grades 7 and 8. Therefore, teachers can delete all the information on radiation equilibrium and radiation absorption of molecules from the end of the Word version of the information sheet.
• Teachers can have their students look for possible ways of reducing the anthropogenically intensified greenhouse effect in the short, medium, or long term. Political, economic, and personal aspects can be discussed separately.
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Information sheet
Biology; Chemistry; Geography; Physics
Grade 7 to 9; Grade 10 to 13
Middle/high school
Climate change; Ecology; Emission (environment); Environment (general); Environmental protection; Greenhouse effect; Pollution of the environment; Renewable energy; Solar energy; Climate change; Ecology (environmental protection); Emission pollution
Siemens Stiftung Media Portal
media&data gmbh using material from: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, license: CC 0; Our World in Data; https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-fuel; license: CC BY; (Fig. 2); Leland McInnes from the English version of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6696694; (Fig. 3); NASA - NASA, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84677622; (Fig. 4)
© Siemens Stiftung 2022
