M2A2 Short Answer: Evidence for Climate Change

Scientists are able to make very accurate predictions about the amount of temperature change that will occur due to future greenhouse gas emissions. Using computer models, scientists are also able to predict how increments in temperature change will impact the world around us. Often the way things are phrased in a news source can sensationalize a topic beyond what the scientists’ research actually suggests. Reporters want to grab our attention and impress us with the importance of the findings in the research, but this approach can turn possible outcomes into a sure thing just by changing a few words. There is a big difference in the prospect of an event occurring depending on whether it is likely, possible, or certain. Watch for these terms in reading the materials provided for this and future assignments.

There are many different factors that must be considered when we discuss the impact of climate change around the world. This activity will focus on the challenging idea of how climate change will affect the health of our children. Children’s health is most vulnerable to small, incremental changes, and our children will be dealing with the results of climate change long after we adults are gone. The shifting of rain and drought patterns, the range of temperature changes, and the resulting changes in plants, insects, and animals—the global environmental zones will be in flux over the next century. The readings here will discuss these changes and how scientists predict they will affect the health and well-being of our children.

First, read the following:

• WHO Climate Change and Health (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., Fact Sheet 266 (updated 9/2015)
• Pocinki, A., Reeves, R.V. (2016). The world’s children are already suffering from climate change (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. . Brookings Blog, Social Mobility Memos, BrookingsInstitute
• Haskins, R., Currie, J., Deschenes, O. (2016). Children and Climate Change (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [PDF file size 1.6 MB], The Future of Children, Princeton-Brookings, Policy Brief, Vol.26 N.1 Spring 2016 (This is a large report, you should read pages 3-9 for this assignment)

Next, submit the following:

A completed M2A2 Your Science Tool Kit (download M2A2 STK template) [DOCX, File size 25.3 KB] examining and analyzing the information in the Brookings blog report by Alegra Pocinki and Richard V. Reeves. You should rely on the WHO Fact Sheet and the Princeton-Brookings policy brief as your sources for reliable, factual information to compare and contrast to the blog report. [

Your Science Toolkit for

M2A2 Short Answer: Evidence for Climate Change

Student name:

Enter the following information about the article you are to analyze:

Title: Author: Publication:

Note: All responses must be supported by information from your readings. Provide specific quotations or data to validate your position in each response. Use APA (American Psychological Association) style in-text citations and references.

Part 1

1. Where did the author of the Brookings Blog get the scientific information he/she is reporting (the “source”)? (Give the full name of the journal or publication, website, etc.)

2. Does this source have a special purpose or goal? (Go to the website of the journal/publisher and see who publishes this (i.e., what organization or government agency), and check their stated objectives or goals. Is this a “peer reviewed” scientific journal?)

Use the EC (Excelsior College) Library resource, Evaluation Criteria, to help you evaluate a source.

Part 2

1. Is there a difference in the information/data you find in the blog compared to the information provided in the module resources, the WHO (World Health Organization) Fact Sheet, and the Policy Brief that published the research?

2. Is there a difference between what you learned from this article and what you thought before? Do you think the American public would agree with the findings reported in the news article? Why or why not?

Give concrete examples from your readings to support your positions on each question.

Part 3

1. Do all the scientific sources you have examined on this topic provide data or information that supports the premise of the blog?

2. Did the blog reporter find any scientists who disagree or use key words that indicate these are theories or possibilities instead of proven facts? Give specific quotations and examples to support your response.

3. What two questions do you wish you could ask the author of the blog and/or the authors of the reports provided in the module readings?

Give concrete examples from your readings to support your positions on each question.

Part 4:

1. Does the evidence suggest correlation or causation? In other words, do the data suggest that two factors are correlated with one another, or that changes in one actually cause changes in the other?

2. Is the evidence based on a large sample of observations or just a few isolated incidents?

3. Does the evidence in the scientific literature, provided in the module readings and other sources you have located, support the claims made by the author in the blog?

4. Does the reporter exaggerate or overstate the findings in any sensationalized manner?

Give concrete examples from your readings to support your positions on each question.

Part 5: Now, answer the following concluding questions:

1. Do you trust this Brookings Blog story to provide accurate evidence of the health concerns associated with climate change?

2. Is the data and analysis in the Brookings Blog supported by the data used in the Original Policy Brief from the Future of Children and the WHO Climate Change and Health Report?

3. Based on your answers to the Tool Kit questions and everything you have read on this topic, do you think the Brookings Blog is an accurate report of the impact of climate change on our health?

Give concrete examples from your readings to support your positions on each question.

Use this space to provide complete APA style references for any and all informational sources you used, including the news article. Refer to the EC Library Tip Sheet on writing references in APA style [PDF, file size 46 KB].