Instructions: Answer the following questions.
Are natural disasters becoming more severe? More frequent?
Students should be able to share from their lived experiences that natural disasters are becoming more severe and more frequent.
Why do you think that is?
Students may have a vague understanding that climate change is causing this. Students may not know specifically why that is at this point.
In a natural disaster, who is impacted the most?
Students may have different ideas to share here.
Encourage students to think big picture about the resources needed to recover from natural disasters, not just the immediate impacts.
What is the difference between a natural hazard and a natural disaster?
Name _______________________________ Date ___________
Inquire
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Instructions: Respond to these questions after viewing the video “Causes and Effects of Climate Change”.
What are the 4 main categories where we will see impacts?
List the natural disasters that are connected to climate change.
All the natural disasters students investigated in Lesson 1 are connected to climate change.
The ones most affected by climate change are:
Investigate
Name _______________________________ Date ___________
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Instructions: Respond to these questions after the second viewing of the video “I Live in the Eastern US - Does climate change matter to me?”
How are these changes impacting the economy (give one example from the video)?
List the other impacts that you think are already affecting New Jersey.
The natural disasters most likely to affect New Jersey are:
List 4 impacts that climate change is having in the Northeastern United States.
Investigate
Name _______________________________ Date ___________
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Instructions: Using the graph of natural disasters in New Jersey over time, answer the following questions.
List the natural disasters from most to least frequent.
Flood, drought, extreme heat, wildfire, tornado, hurricane/tropical storm, extreme cold
*Note: This graph does not include disease. For extension, students can consider how disease statistics are different from statistics for other natural disasters.
Do you think climate change is having an effect on natural disasters in New Jersey?
Discuss with students that climate change is the reason we see the increases in natural disasters on this graph.
What do you observe about the time period 1953-1988?
From 1953-1988 (in teal on the graph), no instances of these natural disasters occurred, with the exception of tornadoes, which occurred less frequently.
Investigate
Name _______________________________ Date ___________
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Instructions: Work with your group to examine climate change in New Jersey infographics from Rutgers University and answers the following questions.
Which three climate change issues are listed?
What is at stake (three areas)?
What stands out to you and your group?
Answers vary
Investigate
Name _______________________________ Date ___________
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Instructions: Complete these questions as you discuss climate justice and view the video “Climate Justice is Social Justice.
What surprised you the most in the video?
Answers will vary.
Climate change is a global problem. Why don’t we all experience the effects equally?
Answers will vary, but students should be able to identify that lower income people and people living in poverty don’t have the same healthy living conditions or access to solutions. Wealthy nations have used resources from the poor nations. Governments have placed pipelines under poor neighborhoods.
What is a climate refugee?
Migrants that have been displaced by climate change effects.
Sum up the term climate justice in one sentence.
Answers will vary
Students should be able to identify that climate change should be addressed while also addressing inequality.
Investigate
Name _______________________________ Date ___________
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Instructions: Use the maps on the Teacher Slideshow to answer the following questions.
What do you notice about the location of high temperatures in New Jersey?
The locations with high temperatures match very closely with the locations of overburdened communities.
How do these maps reinforce what you know about climate justice?
People who are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change are the ones impacted the most.
Social inequalities and past policies like redlining are tied into the conversation about climate change, showing climate justice is social justice.
What is an overburdened community?
“The term is used to describe the minority, low‐income, tribal, and indigenous populations or communities in the United States that potentially experience disproportionate environmental harms and risks due to exposures or cumulative impacts or greater vulnerability to environmental hazards. This increased vulnerability may be attributable to an accumulation of negative and to lack of positive environmental, health, economic, or social conditions within these populations or communities.”
How do redlined areas compare to locations at risk for a heat emergency?
Again, the locations of high temperatures match very closely to the locations of redlined communities.
This is because redlining was what created the overburdened communities in the first place.
Investigate
Name _______________________________ Date ___________
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Instructions: Reflect on what you have learned in this lesson.
What are the connections between climate change, climate justice, and natural disasters in New Jersey?
Answers vary.
Students should be able to generally show that:
Investigate
Name _______________________________ Date ___________
Extreme Weather and Climate Change