Week 13: Local Climate Change

 What did you do in the lab this week?

This week in lab, we worked in groups to create presentations about climate change. My group's project was on temperature. We worked to find data supporting how climate change affects temperature, and we found data supporting this at a local, regional, and global level. Then we shared our findings with the class and listened to our peers' presentations. Below is some of the information I learned from the other presentations: 

Precipitation:

  •  Rising global temperatures are causing shifts in precipitation, leading to more intense storms. 
  • Snowfall is decreasing as temperatures rise; precipitation in December is typically rain now. 
  • This harms crops as snow helps soil not freeze, which the freeze harms crops. 
  • There is a drastic increase in precipitation. There is a 50% increase in days with more than 4 in of rain in Iowa City. 
  • Since 1901, the annual precipitation rate in the US has increased by 0.18 in per decade. 
  • Warmer air holds more moisture = climate change causes more precipitation. 
  • Heavy rainfall is increasing, and the land is drying faster, less rainy days but more rain falling when it does. Leading to more floods, and also more floods. 
  • Climate change is making the "wetter days wetter, and the drier days drier." 

Temperature: 

  • My group presented on temperature (submitted on ICON) 

Ag/Plant Life: 
  • Iowa temperatures have increased 1 degree farniheit since 1980. 
  • Iowa gets about 4 more inches of rain each year. 
  • Impacts of climate change on agriculture: longer growing seasons. An increased amount of heat stress, unpredictable spring freezes, rising temperatures, and humidity lead to less milk production.
  •  Farmers can adapt by using cover crops, drainage, choosing crops that are better suited for future conditions, planting early, and using mulch.
  • Heatwaves, droughts, and intense storms are happening more often. 

What was the big question? How does climate change impact precipitation, temperature, and Ag/plant life?

What did you learn in the discussion this week? 

  • Teaching differently helps students learn 

  • Politics plays a large role in how climate change information is portrayed to the public. Ex: The Climate Depot is funded by oil companies (contributors to global warming) 

  • Between 1991 and 2012, there were 13,950 peer-reviewed articles on climate change, 24 of which rejected the concept of global warming. 

  • 97% of scientists agree on global warming, and 45% of the public agrees on global warming. 

Evidence of Climate Change: 

  • Glacier retreats: the front edge of glaciers is melting off 

  • Ice melting is volume that is not accounted for, so it will cause sea levels to rise.

Online Chapter: 

What did you learn? Climate change is not just something that is happening globally; it is happening in Iowa right now. Our state is experiencing hotter temperatures, more precipitation, and droughts. These changes due to climate change affect our health, agriculture, livestock, and ecosystems. For example, the 2008 Iowa City flood and the shift in plant hardiness zones show how climate change is impacting us right now. I also learned that there are things I can do to help combat climate change, such as figuring out what my carbon footprint is, and ways I can help minimize it, and speaking to our legislators about these issues. 

What was most helpful? The data shown in this chapter helped me visualize the effects climate change has and is continuing to make. Also, the local examples helped me connect climate change to my life and Iowa. 

What questions do you have? How are farmers protecting livestock from dangerous heat? 

What comments/concerns do you have? I never realized how climate change is directly impacting me in my life, and specifically in Iowa. It is very concerning to me. 

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