Detailed Instructions:
Visit ClimateTippingPoints.com. You will find a map covered by blue and red icons. Every icon links to a short article, written by a Georgetown student, that either describes how past climate change has influenced the history of a particular place, or how projected climate change may affect that place. Blue icons link to articles about the past (after all, it was colder then); red icons link to articles about the future.
You will write an article about the future. You can choose any county or city in the USA, except for those already covered by red icons on the Tipping Points website. If you'd prefer writing about a location beyond the United States, please let me know. Remember: your focus is on the future. You may briefly refer to the past or present, but only to give readers a sense of what they should expect in the decades to come.
When you’ve chosen a city or county, begin by visiting the “Tools” section of the website. Here, I’ve given you a selection of credible, accessible applications and programs that should allow you to easily forecast temperature, precipitation, and (depending on the location) other expressions of climate change in the coming century. For temperature and precipitation projections, NOAA's "Climate Explorer" and Carbon Brief's "Mapped" are especially useful, and check out Climate Central for sea level projections. Before you get started, be sure to read the notes at the top of the "Tools" page.
You will use these tools to explain, first, how climate change has altered the local environment of one of those counties or cities; second, how we know that climate change has had such an influence; and third, how the consequences of climate change for local environments affected peoples’ lives. The articles already on the website should give you a template for how to write these three parts of your assignment. Be sure to follow the three-part structure of these articles, complete with subheadings.
Using the tools I’ve provided, you should be able to obtain at least two maps or graphs that represent climatic trends in a particular place. Please include them in your assignment, and explain how they were made. Describe the data that inform your tools, and mention the agency or organization responsible for them. For the third part of your assignment, see if you can find documents published by local or state governments. If necessary, you can bring in additional information from newspapers or scholarly articles. List all such sources under a "Further Reading" subheading (again, consult the articles already on the site to see what to do). Note that I don't want you to use footnotes, endnotes, or in-text citations.
I will edit the finest papers I receive and publish them on the Tipping Points website, which currently receives around 50,000 hits a year. If you don't want me to publish your paper, please let me know when you submit (I will complete understand, and you will receive no penalty at all).
Note that our goal is to educate people about the impact of past, present, and future climate change in their community. Your papers should therefore avoid jargon and clearly explain how climatic trends have altered local environments. It may help to pretend that you're writing for a friend or family member with no interest in climate change - not for me.
You will write an article about the future. You can choose any county or city in the USA, except for those already covered by red icons on the Tipping Points website. If you'd prefer writing about a location beyond the United States, please let me know. Remember: your focus is on the future. You may briefly refer to the past or present, but only to give readers a sense of what they should expect in the decades to come.
When you’ve chosen a city or county, begin by visiting the “Tools” section of the website. Here, I’ve given you a selection of credible, accessible applications and programs that should allow you to easily forecast temperature, precipitation, and (depending on the location) other expressions of climate change in the coming century. For temperature and precipitation projections, NOAA's "Climate Explorer" and Carbon Brief's "Mapped" are especially useful, and check out Climate Central for sea level projections. Before you get started, be sure to read the notes at the top of the "Tools" page.
You will use these tools to explain, first, how climate change has altered the local environment of one of those counties or cities; second, how we know that climate change has had such an influence; and third, how the consequences of climate change for local environments affected peoples’ lives. The articles already on the website should give you a template for how to write these three parts of your assignment. Be sure to follow the three-part structure of these articles, complete with subheadings.
Using the tools I’ve provided, you should be able to obtain at least two maps or graphs that represent climatic trends in a particular place. Please include them in your assignment, and explain how they were made. Describe the data that inform your tools, and mention the agency or organization responsible for them. For the third part of your assignment, see if you can find documents published by local or state governments. If necessary, you can bring in additional information from newspapers or scholarly articles. List all such sources under a "Further Reading" subheading (again, consult the articles already on the site to see what to do). Note that I don't want you to use footnotes, endnotes, or in-text citations.
I will edit the finest papers I receive and publish them on the Tipping Points website, which currently receives around 50,000 hits a year. If you don't want me to publish your paper, please let me know when you submit (I will complete understand, and you will receive no penalty at all).
Note that our goal is to educate people about the impact of past, present, and future climate change in their community. Your papers should therefore avoid jargon and clearly explain how climatic trends have altered local environments. It may help to pretend that you're writing for a friend or family member with no interest in climate change - not for me.
