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"Earth's climate is stable within limits. After small changes in temperature, the climate will remain stable, but larger changes can be dangerous....... Your task is to explore different scenarios with our Carbon/Temperature Model do draw some conclusions about what events are causing the greatest shifts."

"The Arctic experienced an extended period of warm temperatures about 3.6 million years ago - before the onset of the ice ages - at a time when the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere was not much higher than the levels being recorded today, a new study finds."

"In its most recent assessment of global climate change, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences concluded, "A strong body of scientific evidence shows that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems." Impacts and rates of change are greatest in the Arctic, where temperatures have been increasing at about twice the global rate over the past four decades. The rapid decline in summer sea ice cover in the past decade has outpaced scientific projections and is drawing international attention to emerging commercial development and transport opportunities previously blocked by the frozen sea. The Arctic is therefore a bellwether for how climate change may reshape geopolitics in the post-Cold War era."

"Global warming has been a topic of concern and much controversy for many years. Whatever the disagreements have been in the past, most scientists and policy makers now recognize that if the Earth's surface temperatures continue to rise as much as they have in the past decade or so, then many parts of the world could face dire consequences, including food and water shortages, coastal flooding, and health consequences. Based on the Koshland Science Museum's exhibit Global Warming: Facts and Our Future, the following webquest will allow students to learn firsthand how society and environment might be impacted by global warming and how to help people make better decisions regarding all the complicated issues surrounding climate change, energy use, and available policy options. Students will take on the role of scientist, business leader, or policy maker and be part of a climate action team, which will make some of the same discoveries and decisions that are made in the "real world" every day. "

Polar Science Curriculum Resources

"In the lesson plan, the class does the work of a team of paleontologists studying a time of rapid global warming 55 million years ago. By examining fossils of leaves from various tree species, and by incorporating the findings into a mathematical formula, the students are able to tell average annual temperatures during this prehistoric time. "

polar science curriculum resources

"These charts put that warmth into historical perspective for the country [USA] as a whole, and for a few select cities."