NASA’s Global Climate Change Education Sneha Rao Mark Becker Amy Work Center for International Earth Science Information Network(CIESIN), Columbia University www.ciesin.columbia.edu The Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology (IAGT), Cayuga Community College www.iagt.org VISION The objective of NASA’s Global Climate Change Education (GCCE) project is to provide educators the tools and resources to engage students in critical thinking about the global climate change and the potential impact on human health across the globe at secondary, and post-secondary school level, by using NASA climate information. STRATEGY Building Lesson Plans The core of this project is the construction of a series of interactive exercises for students to explore the effects of climate change predictions and the potential impact on human health within their local environments and compare their findings with the effects predicted for other regional, national, or international environments. Example Questions lessons will explore: • What are the potential Tsunami impacts on people living on low elevation coastal zones in Japan? Fig 1. Maps depicting low elevation population density and potential Tsunami impacts SEDAC’s Population Estimation Service SERVIR Viz and the Climate Mapper The Population Estimation Service is a Web Processing service(WPS) for estimating population totals and related statistics within a user-defined region. It enables users to quickly obtain estimates of number of people residing in specific areas. The Climate Mapper, a plug-in developed for World Wind/SERVIR Viz, allows users easy access to global climate change projections around the world for the 2030s and 2050s and historical precipitation and temperature data for 1961-1990 Fig 2.Estimate of population living in proximity of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants, Japan Fig 3. Flood Mortality risks and distribution of flood events in Japan EXECUTION APPLICATION To enrich the learning experience for teachers and students working with global climate change information, IAGT and CIESIN have developed and enhanced the NASA World Wind 3D Visualization tool. The GCCE project aims to engage a younger generation of net savvy users through the use of an intuitive visual technologies, including gaming trends and increased use of geospatial technologies in educational settings. NASA GCCE World Wind Tool Fig 4 Estimate of population living within 12 mile radius of Fukushima (Japan) nuclear plants TARGET AUDIENCE The target audience of the enhanced NASA educational school tool: 1. Secondary school students 2. Post-secondary school students CONTACT Website: TBD Author: Sneha Rao, GIS Specialist CIESIN, Columbia University Tel: 845.365.8683 Email: [email protected] Using Existing Web-based Resources Zoom to low elevation coastal areas in Japan Merging WPS & SERVIR Viz

NASA’s Global Climate Change Education - CIESIN · thinking about the global climate change and the potential impact on human health across the globe at secondary, and post-secondary

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Page 1: NASA’s Global Climate Change Education - CIESIN · thinking about the global climate change and the potential impact on human health across the globe at secondary, and post-secondary

NASA’s Global Climate Change EducationSneha Rao Mark Becker Amy Work

Center for International Earth Science InformationNetwork(CIESIN), Columbia University

www.ciesin.columbia.edu

The Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology (IAGT), Cayuga Community College

www.iagt.org

VISIONThe objective of NASA’s Global Climate Change Education (GCCE) project isto provide educators the tools and resources to engage students in criticalthinking about the global climate change and the potential impact on humanhealth across the globe at secondary, and post-secondary school level, by usingNASA climate information.

STRATEGYBuilding Lesson Plans

The core of this project is the construction of a series of interactiveexercises for students to explore the effects of climate change predictionsand the potential impact on human health within their local environmentsand compare their findings with the effects predicted for other regional,national, or international environments.

Example Questions lessons will explore:• What are the potential Tsunami impacts on people living on low

elevation coastal zones in Japan?

Fig 1. Maps depicting low elevation population density and potential Tsunami impacts

SEDAC’s Population Estimation Service SERVIR Viz and the Climate Mapper

The Population Estimation Service is a WebProcessing service(WPS) for estimating populationtotals and related statistics within a user-definedregion. It enables users to quickly obtain estimatesof number of people residing in specific areas.

The Climate Mapper, a plug-in developed forWorld Wind/SERVIR Viz, allows users easy accessto global climate change projections around theworld for the 2030s and 2050s and historicalprecipitation and temperature data for 1961-1990

Fig 2.Estimate of population living in proximityof Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants, Japan

Fig 3. Flood Mortality risks and distribution of flood events in Japan

EXECUTION

APPLICATION

To enrich the learning experience for teachers and studentsworking with global climate change information, IAGT andCIESIN have developed and enhanced the NASA World Wind 3DVisualization tool.The GCCE project aims to engage a younger generation of netsavvy users through the use of an intuitive visual technologies,including gaming trends and increased use of geospatialtechnologies in educational settings.

NASA GCCE World Wind Tool

Fig 4 Estimate of population living within 12 mile radius of Fukushima (Japan) nuclear plants

TARGET AUDIENCEThe target audience of the enhanced NASA educational school tool:

1. Secondary school students2. Post-secondary school students

CONTACTWebsite: TBD

Author:

Sneha Rao, GIS Specialist

CIESIN, Columbia University

Tel: 845.365.8683

Email: [email protected]

Using Existing Web-based Resources

Zoom to low elevation coastal areas in Japan