What Is Causing Global Temperatures to Rise
Aligned to MS-ESS3-5 — Next Generation Science Standards.
What this lesson teaches
Earth's average temperature has climbed over the past century. Certain gases in the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, trap heat that would otherwise escape to space — the greenhouse effect. The evidence links the recent rise to a sharp increase in these gases from human burning of coal, oil, and gas.
Worked example
Ice cores drilled from Antarctica hold tiny bubbles of ancient air. They show carbon dioxide bounced within a natural range for hundreds of thousands of years, then shot far above it right as factories and cars began burning fossil fuels — and global temperature climbed alongside it.
Practice questions
- Ask two testable questions about what might cause temperatures to change, one natural and one human-caused.
- Explain how a greenhouse or a closed car warming in the sun is like the greenhouse effect.
- Look at a graph of carbon dioxide and temperature over time and describe how the two lines relate.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Qué está causando que suban las temperaturas globales
La temperatura promedio de la Tierra ha subido durante el último siglo. Ciertos gases de la atmósfera, como el dióxido de carbono, atrapan calor que de otro modo escaparía al espacio: el efecto invernadero. La evidencia relaciona el aumento reciente con un fuerte incremento de estos gases por la quema humana de carbón, petróleo y gas.
Ejemplo: Los núcleos de hielo perforados en la Antártida guardan burbujas diminutas de aire antiguo. Muestran que el dióxido de carbono se mantuvo dentro de un rango natural durante cientos de miles de años, y luego se disparó muy por encima justo cuando las fábricas y los autos empezaron a quemar combustibles fósiles, y la temperatura global subió junto con él.
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