Graphs from “IPCC (2013) Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis,” Working Group I Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Summary for Policy-makers, October 2013. Download the report at: http://www.ipcc.ch/

Note: Letters correspond to graphs. Numbers correspond to state-ments. Statements with numbers higher than 7, whether true or not, do not match any of the graphs in this activity.

“My grandmother says that winters are less snowy now than they were when she was a kid in the 1950s.”

“There’s more CO2 in the atmosphere now than there used to be. CO2 is carbon dioxide and causes the air to hold heat.”

“Sea level is going up as climate warms. This makes towns and cities near the ocean at risk of flooding.”

“The oceans are getting warmer.”

There is about half the amount of ice near the North Pole than there used to be.”

“Sure, there’s some variation, but, in general, climate is getting warmer.”

key to graph-quote pairs

“On average, the 1980s were warmer than the 1970s, the 1990s were warmer than the 1980s, and the 2000s were warmer than the 1990s.”

A=7

B=6

C=5

D=4

E=3

F=2

G=1

© UCAR

“The

re’s

mor

e CO

2 in th

e at

mos

pher

e no

w th

an th

ere

used

to

be.

CO

2 is c

arbo

n di

oxid

e an

d it

caus

es th

e ai

r to

hold

hea

t.”

A 7

© UCAR

“Sea

leve

l is g

oing

up

as c

limat

e w

arm

s. T

his m

akes

tow

ns a

nd c

ities

ne

ar th

e oc

ean

at ri

sk o

f floo

ding

.”B 6

© UCAR

“The

oce

ans a

re g

etting

war

mer

.”C 5

© UCAR

Ther

e is

abo

ut h

alf t

he

amou

nt o

f ice

nea

r the

Nor

th

Pole

than

ther

e us

ed to

be.

”

D 4

“My

gran

dmot

her s

ays t

hat

win

ters

are

less

snow

y no

w

than

they

wer

e w

hen

she

was

a k

id in

the

1950

s.”

E 3

© UCAR

G F

© UCAR

“Sur

e, th

ere’

s som

e va

riatio

n,

but,

in g

ener

al, c

limat

e is

ge

tting

war

mer

.”

“On

aver

age,

the

1980

s wer

e w

arm

er th

an th

e 19

70s,

the

1990

s wer

e w

arm

er th

an th

e 19

80s,

and

the

2000

s wer

e w

arm

er th

an th

e 19

90s.”

2 1

© UCAR

“Clim

ate

varie

s so

muc

h ye

ar to

yea

r th

at y

ou c

an’t

see

a tr

end

over

tim

e.”

“On

aver

age,

the

1980

s wer

e co

oler

th

an th

e 19

70s,

the

1990

s wer

e co

oler

than

the

1980

s, a

nd th

e 20

00s

wer

e co

oler

than

the

1990

s,”

8 9

© UCAR

“Sin

ce 1

960

sea

leve

l has

incr

ease

d ne

arly

100

met

ers.”

“The

re is

twic

e as

muc

h ca

rbon

di

oxid

e in

the

atm

osph

ere

than

ther

e w

as in

196

0.”

10 11

© UCAR

“In

the

nort

hern

hem

isph

ere,

ther

e’s

mor

e sn

ow in

Janu

ary

and

Febr

uary

th

an th

ere

is d

urin

g sp

ring.

”

“The

upp

er o

cean

gro

ws w

arm

er

over

tim

e w

hile

the

deep

oce

an

grow

s col

der o

ver ti

me.

”

12 13

© UCAR

“Eac

h ye

ar, s

ea ic

e in

the

Arcti

c gr

ows l

arge

r dur

ing

the

win

ter a

nd

mel

ts d

urin

g th

e su

mm

er.”

14

© UCAR