How Climate Change Has Intensified Hurricane Season
Videos
Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Physics, Earth and Space Sciences
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Provided by NowThis Earth
What it is
- This video from NowThis Earth provides evidence of hurricanes like Ida and Harvey causing more precipitation and becoming stronger, slower, and larger than in the past.
- The video includes footage of Katharine Hayhoe discussing these events and providing examples of hurricanes that have hit Louisiana, Houston, and the rest of Gulf Coast.
Teaching tips
Positives
- Students may be surprised to learn that 93% of the extra heat trapped by greenhouse gases is absorbed by the oceans, which may help them make the connection between higher ocean temperatures and stronger hurricanes.
- The information is presented in a very logical and easy-to-follow manner.
Prerequisites
- Students should have a basic understanding of the greenhouse effect.
- Students should understand that heat is a form of energy.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Social studies and economics classes can discuss the human and environmental costs of more powerful and/or longer-lived storms and compare those with the costs of addressing climate change, taking into account the additional loss of life (which cannot be measured financially) that may occur from more extreme storms.
- Biology and/or chemistry classes can use this resource as a hook for lessons about the flow of energy through ecosystems, the increasing capacity of the atmosphere to hold more water vapor at higher temperatures, and the effects of heat on chemical reactions, the density of liquid water, and the reduction in dissolved oxygen available in the oceans.
- For more information about climate change and oceans, check out How Whales Help Fight Climate Change, How Does Temperature Affect the Solubility of CO2 in Water, and How Acidic Water is Changing the Ocean.
From the scientist review
This resource explores options for contingency planning to avert storm surges and extreme weather events. Climate change has increased ocean temperatures, and this fuels extreme storm occurrence. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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