The Family Guide to Disruptive Climate Change

The everyday problems of family life occupy the attention and resources of most of our country%u2019s citizens. Thoughts of the future climate of our planet continue to be secondary to worries of finances and health. This Family Guide to Disruptive Climate Change is the response of an atmospheric scientist to the need for the relevant science information and guidance for adaptation and correction. In the hypothetical middle school town hall discussion of Part A, the relevant science...
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The everyday problems of family life occupy the attention and resources of most of our country%u2019s citizens. Thoughts of the future climate of our planet continue to be secondary to worries of finances and health. This Family Guide to Disruptive Climate Change is the response of an atmospheric scientist to the need for the relevant science information and guidance for adaptation and correction. In the hypothetical middle school town hall discussion of Part A, the relevant science and societal concerns for this clear and present danger to our lives is given attention in a familiar everyday manner. Participants in the discussion introduce the recent scientific observations and measurements that give clear evidence of global warming and climate change caused by the heat trapping mechanism of the greenhouse effect. An awareness is developed that human activity in producing energy and food have made significant increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other heat-trapping gases. Discoveries of climate changes in unfamiliar remote areas of the planet are brought into the conversations. Students give thought to future adaptation problems with knowledge of present difficulties of people and animals with sea level rise and melting ice. This generation of young people becomes aware of the developing climate difficulties in their lives. A general need for corrections in energy use and production is recognized and all options for change are brought to the table. Part B of this Family Guide is an organized presentation of the necessary science, adaptations, and solutions for guidance of parents and teachers in developing an immediate response to avoid disruptive climate change.