This brief video presents text and images of the highlights of the 2018 IPCC Special Report on Global Warming.
The report points out that we are already nearing 1.5 degrees of warming and that any additional warming will increase the risks for ecosystems, food and water security, and health.
The solutions identified include steep reductions in coal and methane emissions, increases in efficiency, and behavioral changes such as decreasing energy demand, reducing consumption, and choosing low-carbon foods.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This video offers a brief introduction to the findings of a very in-depth report generated from over 6,000 publications and reviewed by experts from all over the world.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should be familiar with climate change, global warming, and the Paris Climate Agreement.
Teachers might need to periodically pause the video for some students to read all of the text.
Differentiation
This resource could be used to introduce the IPCC report and stimulate a discussion about the importance of peer-reviewed science in general.
Cross-curricular connections could be made with ethics, economics, and media literacy.
Scientist Notes
This resource is a summary of IPCC's special report on reducing the global mean temperature to a little below the average during the pre-industrial era (1.5°C). It has gone through a thorough peer-review process by Working Group 1 scientists and experts. Hence, this resource is recommended for teaching. Educators should note that in the video from 0:46-0:51, there is a misconception about "hot extremes." Please use "heat extremes" instead when teaching.
Standards
Science and Engineering
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
HS-ESS3-5 Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth’s systems.
