DLESE description of Earth Expeditions: Global Warming

This multimedia learning tool places students on a research vessel where they run computer climate models to predict how climate in regions around the world may change as the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continues to rise. They are charged with determining how climate in four regions of the world (Alaska, northern Canada and Greenland; Europe and western Russia; western tropical Pacific; and sub-Saharan Africa) may change over the next 100 years as human population continues to increase and non-industrialized nations become industrialized. Their conclusions will help officials advise nations around the world of the potential risks of increased carbon emissions. Students follow the scientific method by testing a given hypothesis on future climate patterns. Computer climate models, a data center and instructional movies are located within the research center to assist them.