Name:____________________________________________________________________________ Date:________________________________________________
Ocean's Impact on Climate Activity Worksheet
Instructions: While exploring the effects of climate change on glaciers in the Ocean's Impact on Climate Activity, record your findings below. You will submit your completed activity worksheet.
(30 points possible)
Part One
Scientists have studied 37 glaciers since 1980 to collect data on their average mass. Use the research you collected from the two articles and the diagrams below to help you answer the following questions.
Annual gain or loss in mass for 37 reference glaciers (gray bars) from 1980 through 2014 and the long-term accumulated loss (red line). Mass is estimated as the depth of water that would result if the melted ice and snow were to spread out across the surface of the glacier.
© Climate.gov - NOAA
What was the average yearly ice loss in 1980 versus 2010? (1 point)
What is the overall trend shown in this graph? (2 points)
How does a melting glacier affect the ocean? (2 points)
Illustration depicting the overturning circulation of the global ocean. Throughout the Atlantic Ocean, the circulation carries warm waters (red arrows) northward near the surface and cold deep waters (blue arrows) southward
© 2015 NASA.gov
Looking at the heat circulation in the ocean, what might happen to it if large amounts of cold water are added in the Polar Regions as glaciers melt? (3 points)
Based on your response above, what effect could this have on the climate in your area? (2 points)
Part Two
(20 points)
Complete the inquiry chart below by exploring each question in the top row. First, fill in what you think about each question. Then use the lesson and at least two other reliable sources to research more about each question. List each source and write a one-sentence summary of the information you found. The one-sentence summary should be in your own words or properly cited. Finally, pull the ideas from all three sources together in a short summary on the bottom row. The final summary must be in your own words.
Here is a completed example:
Inquiry Chart
How does water cycle through the atmosphere?
What I think
I think it changes phases and moves from place to place
Source 1 is:
Lesson 2.06
One sentence summary
The lesson says that it is “how water typically changes phases and moves among bodies of water, land, and the atmosphere” (2.06 page 2)
Source 2 is:
https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/water-cycle
One sentence summary
After water evaporates, it condenses into clouds, and then falls back to Earth as precipitation
Source 3 is:
https://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html
One sentence summary
The water cycle is also called the hydrologic cycle and it is always in movement and water is always change states between liquid, vapor, and ice
Summary in my own words:
The water cycle, or hydrologic cycle, is the continuous movement of water. Water changes phases between liquid, vapor, and ice. The sun’s heat causes evaporation from the surface of Earth, and water vapor in the atmosphere condenses into clouds. Liquid or solid water falls back to Earth as precipitation.
Inquiry Chart How does solar radiation affect climate? How do the ocean currents affect climate? How does climate change affect the ocean? How does climate change affect the biodiversity of marine ecosystems?
What I think
Source 1
One sentence summary
Source 2
One sentence summary
Source 3
One sentence summary
Summary in my own words:
