Since humans have started to expand their settlements and industrialize, they have been able to release approximately 555 gigatons of carbon dioxide (GTCO
2
) into the atmosphere. This can be traced back to be the underlying reason that there are observed temperature and sea level changes. The average temperature over land has increased 0.85 degrees Celsius (°C) and the sea level has risen 0.19 meters (m).
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Ecology is the study of the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings. Through years of coevolution, most ecosystems have become self-sustainable, but even the slightest change can affect an entire area. With the introduction of an invasive species, a nonnative organism that was brought from another area, can come a disruption of a delicate preexisting ecological balance. This will be my segue into connecting the students’ lives into the topic. Climate change is something that the students can identify with. Living on the shoreline, the students can start to make observations that things are changing, such as increased extreme weather phenomenon, shifting seasons causing plants and crops to sprout at different times. The sea level in the Long Island Sound less than a mile away from them is rising.
After introducing the impact that climate change has had on our environment and how we don’t live in a bubble where we are unaffected by our actions as a human race, I would want to start looking into ways that we can adapt to with the changing world. Some areas are already being affected by this change in the climate and some people believe it is too late to turn back now. Using twenty-first century engineering solutions, hopefully we can understand what is causing this climate change, and then we can start thinking about ways that we can move forward.
