**This is the chapter slice "Climate and Ecosystems" from the full lesson plan "Climate Change: Effects"** Students gain an understanding of the effects of climate change on the environment and human life. Our resource explores how the evolution of human society is affected by the climate. Start by going back in time and exploring the ice ages from Earth's past. Learn about the lives of early humans, and how climate has affected where they move and live. Observe a homemade melting ice sheet to understand its effect on sea level. Then, create a model to show rising sea level in action. Find out if climate change has any effect on the rise of extreme weather experienced in recent years. Learn about the dangers to human health, such as mosquitoes, heat stroke and pollution. See how changes in climate affect an area's economy by virtually destroying the farming industry. Finally, choose one ecosystem and find out how climate change is affecting it. Written to Bloom's Taxonomy and STEAM initiatives, additional hands-on activities, crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included.

Students gain an understanding of the effects of climate change on the environment and human life. Our resource explores how the evolution of human society is affected by the climate. Start by going back in time and exploring the ice ages from Earth's past. Learn about the lives of early humans, and how climate has affected where they move and live. Observe a homemade melting ice sheet to understand its effect on sea level. Then, create a model to show rising sea level in action. Find out if climate change has any effect on the rise of extreme weather experienced in recent years. Learn about the dangers to human health, such as mosquitoes, heat stroke and pollution. See how changes in climate affect an area's economy by virtually destroying the farming industry. Finally, choose one ecosystem and find out how climate change is affecting it. Written to Bloom's Taxonomy and STEAM initiatives, additional hands-on activities, crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included.

The world's climate is changing, and it will continue to change throughout the 21st century and beyond. Rising temperatures, new precipitation patterns, and other changes are already affecting many aspects of human society and the natural world. In this book, the National Research Council provides a broad overview of the ecological impacts of climate change, and a series of examples of impacts of different kinds. The book was written as a basis for a forthcoming illustrated booklet, designed to provide the public with accurate scientific information on this important subject.

Climate change poses many challenges that affect society and the natural world. With these challenges, however, come opportunities to respond. By taking steps to adapt to and mitigate climate change, the risks to society and the impacts of continued climate change can be lessened. The National Climate Assessment, coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is a mandated report intended to inform response decisions. Required to be developed every four years, these reports provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of climate change impacts available for the United States, making them a unique and important climate change document. The draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report reviewed here addresses a wide range of topics of high importance to the United States and society more broadly, extending from human health and community well-being, to the built environment, to businesses and economies, to ecosystems and natural resources. This report evaluates the draft NCA4 to determine if it meets the requirements of the federal mandate, whether it provides accurate information grounded in the scientific literature, and whether it effectively communicates climate science, impacts, and responses for general audiences including the public, decision makers, and other stakeholders.

How does life on our planet respond to--and shape--climate? This question has never been more urgent than it is today, when humans are faced with the daunting task of guiding adaptation to an inexorably changing climate. This concise, accessible, and authoritative book provides an unmatched introduction to the most reliable current knowledge about the complex relationship between living things and climate. Using an Earth System framework, David Schimel describes how organisms, communities of organisms, and the planetary biosphere itself react to and influence environmental change. While much about the biosphere and its interactions with the rest of the Earth System remains a mystery, this book explains what is known about how physical and chemical climate affect organisms, how those physical changes influence how organisms function as individuals and in communities of organisms, and ultimately how climate-triggered ecosystem changes feed back to the physical and chemical parts of the Earth System. An essential introduction, Climate and Ecosystems shows how Earth's living systems profoundly shape the physical world.

Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for-and in many cases is already affecting-a broad range of human and natural systems. The compelling case for these conclusions is provided in Advancing the Science of Climate Change, part of a congressionally requested suite of studies known as America's Climate Choices. While noting that there is always more to learn and that the scientific process is never closed, the book shows that hypotheses about climate change are supported by multiple lines of evidence and have stood firm in the face of serious debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations. As decision makers respond to these risks, the nation's scientific enterprise can contribute through research that improves understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change and also is useful to decision makers at the local, regional, national, and international levels. The book identifies decisions being made in 12 sectors, ranging from agriculture to transportation, to identify decisions being made in response to climate change. Advancing the Science of Climate Change calls for a single federal entity or program to coordinate a national, multidisciplinary research effort aimed at improving both understanding and responses to climate change. Seven cross-cutting research themes are identified to support this scientific enterprise. In addition, leaders of federal climate research should redouble efforts to deploy a comprehensive climate observing system, improve climate models and other analytical tools, invest in human capital, and improve linkages between research and decisions by forming partnerships with action-oriented programs.

Summarizes the science of climate change and impacts on the United States, for the public and policymakers.