U3L9 Impacts of Climate Change

Question 1

Describe the cherry tree blooming and how it has to do with climate change.

Answer 1

Each spring, people visit Washington, D.C., for a special event: the flowering of thousands of cherry trees. In 1912, Japan gave the United States 3,000 cherry trees as a symbol of friendship. The beautiful pink and white cherry blossoms that bloom along the Tidal Basin attract 1.5 million visitors each year. Visitors check and recheck calendars, to arrive when “peak bloom” occurs. That is when most of the cherry blossoms are bursting with color. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the peak bloom date is now five days earlier than it was about 100 years ago. The warmth of spring comes earlier now, coaxing the trees to flower earlier—just one of the impacts of climate change.

Question 2

What is affected by claim the change?

Answer 2

• temperature
• precipitation patterns
• growth states of many plants
• range of plants and animals
• migration patterns

Question 3

How does temperature affect fish?

Answer 3

Outside a certain temperature range, it is difficult for fish to reproduce and find food. Also, as ocean waters warm, some fish populations in warmer waters have declined or have shifted their range poleward. Fish that thrive in cooler waters have moved poleward as well, to waters still cool enough for them. Cold-water fish like salmon are finding it more difficult to survive in warmer waters of some rivers in the Pacific Northwest.

Question 4

What happened to leaf and bloom dates due to global warming?

Answer 4

They are earlier than before

Question 5

What happened to migration times?

Answer 5

They have shifted in response to earlier spring weather

Question 6

The loss of ice and rising temperatures have weakened the ____________.

Answer 6

jet stream

Question 7

What is the result of weakened jet streams?

Answer 7

Weather systems are no longer pushed as quickly across the continent from west to east by these winds. They linger, leading to longer cold spells and stormy weather in winter, or droughts and heat waves in summer.

Question 8

What is the definition of jet stream?

Answer 8

A band of strong winds high in the atmosphere

Question 9

Glaciers store what percentage of earth’s freshwater?

Answer 9

70%

Question 10

Average global precipitation has increased by _____ inches per decade since 1901.

Answer 10

0.08

Question 11

Rank the greenhouse gases by their ability to trap heat in the atmosphere.

Methane
Fluoridated Gases
Carbon Dioxide
Nitrous Oxide

Answer 11

1. Carbon dioxide
2. Methane
3. Nitrous Oxide
4. Fluoridated Gases

Question 12

Identify a tool that scientists use to gather information on ocean temperature and acidity.

Answer 12

Argo float

Question 13

How does Argo tool gather data?

Answer 13

It travels to different depths in the ocean and takes readings of the water. Then it surfaces to transmit the data to satellites.