Climate Change Class – From Planet to Port Townsend

Local 20/20 Climate Outreach group, in partnership with Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Adult Learning Program, offered a free class titled “Climate Change – An Overview from Planet to Port Townsend”. The class ran from December 3rd, 2016 – January 17, 2017.

Below are the materials and resources used in the class.

Syllabus: alps-climate-change-class-syllabus_121416

December 3rd: Climate Simulation Exercise: see https://www.climateinteractive.org/tools/c-roads/

December 6th: Communicating Climate Change

• General Presentation
• Jean Walat and Chrissy McLean’s presentation on Community Climate Change
• Resources:
  • climate-change-metaphors-explanations-notes.pdf
  • nnocci_swamp_updated_2014.pdf
  • ocean-and-climate-change-cultural-models.pdf

December 13th: An International View of Climate Change

• General Presentation
  • The above presentation includes two video links that aren’t in the pdf:
    • Why the COP21 conference was so critical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNfqJFk_K8I
    • A message sent from the Earth’s astronauts to the leaders of COP21 for ‘Action Day’ on December 5th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfhR0kZxFjg

January 3rd: A National View of Climate Change

• Laura’s Resources for information about climate change:
  • NASA’s web page; use the ‘Facts’ drop down menu to learn more about the Evidence (recommended by Laura), Facts, Causes, Scientific Consensus, etc. http://climate.nasa.gov
  • NOAA’s web page; interactive dashboards to look at various issues are very interesting and informative https://www.climate.gov
  • CLEANet: a easily searchable collection of 650+ ready-to-use resources that include activities, resources, videos, etc. suitable for middle school through adult audiences http://cleanet.org/index.html
  • Climate Reality Project: Al Gore’s organization that contains a vast amount of information and ways to get involved, both on a national, regional and local level https://www.climaterealityproject.org
  • Daily Climate: check the web page or sign up for emails from this independent media organization working to increase public understanding of climate change, including its scope and scale, potential solutions and the political processes that impede or advance them. http://www.dailyclimate.org
• Cindy’s Presentation on National Climate Plans
• Paul’s Presentation on Geoengineering the Climate
  • Related resources:
    • The Guardian: geoengineering-the-earths-climate-sends-policy-debate-down-a-curious-rabbit-hole
    • National Geographic: Here’s a Good and a Bad Way to ‘Geoengineer’ the Planet
    • Scientific American: How Did Humans First Alter Global Climate
• Homework before this class: Please read the following article by Bill McKibben of 350.org prior to class. As part of our discussion, we ask you to think of the two most critical climate change issues facing the U.S.

January 10th: A Pacific Northwest View of Climate Change

• Laura’s Presentation: Climate change effects in the NW
• Cindy’ s Presentation on Local Adaptation Strategies, GHG Emissions and Mitigation, and Local Opportunities