Hitting the "Emergency Brake" on Climate
Grades: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, AP
Type: Articles/Websites
Subjects: Social Studies, English Language Arts, Engineering
Authors: Project Drawdown
Location: Earth
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This article highlights the need to prioritize specific climate solutions that have an immediate impact on greenhouse gas concentrations in order to achieve the targets set out in the Paris Agreement.
- The author describes the "low-hanging fruit" of climate solutions like stopping deforestation, preventing methane leaks, and reducing black carbon emissions over the next ten years.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This article communicates the urgency of solving climate change clearly and concisely, using graphs to depict climate projections.
- The article is entirely solutions-oriented and includes increasing efficiency and reducing waste as top solutions with immediate impact.
Additional Prerequisites
- Before reading the article, students should have an understanding of the causes of global warming.
- Students should be comfortable reading and interpreting graphs.
Differentiation
- More advanced students can be asked to discuss the factors most likely to limit progress toward the 2030 and 2050 goals.
- As a follow-up activity, students can each research a specific climate solution that individuals can participate in directly and then, as a class, rank them.
- Social studies and civics classes can discuss the incentives or regulations that could help motivate individuals, businesses, and municipalities to act immediately on these specific climate solutions.
- Engineering students can discuss the many ways to reduce methane leaks or clean-up cook stoves and reduce black carbon emissions using technology.
- Use these articles to have students learn more about some of the solutions presented in the article, including building efficiency, clean cooking, and land sinks.
This article discusses different options and actions that need to be taken in order to reduce global warming to be under 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius, as is the goal of the Paris Accords. A large focus of this article is that many climate solutions cannot be put in place quickly, or we do not have the technology readily available for it. The author suggests some solutions that we need to focus on to immediately stabilize greenhouse gas emissions and eventually reduce them and emphasizes these solutions are extremely time sensitive. The information presented is accurate, however the author does express his opinion on which solutions are most important. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
