ACCENTUATING REGIONAL ANOMALIES TO “GLOBAL” WARMING AS A METHOD OF TEACHING CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Despite overwhelming scientific consensus that the earth’s climate is changing rapidly, and that human activity is largely responsible, there remains a significant percentage of the population that remains skeptical. It is especially challenging to teach about climate change in a politically conservative region that has not experienced the same warming trends as the rest of the world. Such is the case in the Southeast United States, where a “warming hole” experienced significant cooling beginning in the late 1950’s while the rest of the world was warming. This region still falls below average global temperature anomalies, suggesting that the warming hole still exists. Additionally, progressive warming of the Arctic has resulted in greater instability of the northern polar jet stream, which can bring frigidly cold winter weather to the southeastern United States. Climate system drivers are complex; however, by addressing this complexity and encouraging exploration into the causation of anomalous evidence on a regional scale, it is easier to explain the broader patterns and implications of global climate change.

Courses that introduce students to the basic concepts of the Earth’s climate and that specifically address climate change should reinforce inquiry-based learning, critical thinking, and analytical skills. This can be accomplished through the analysis of archived local weather data in the southeastern U.S. extended over decades to demonstrate the difference between weather and climate. Comparisons are made between historical local temperature trends with temperature trends outside of the “warming hole”. Through a detail-oriented exercise such as this, students are able to 1) determine what available weather data are most informative to examine long-term climate change, 2) examine several of the theories to explain why regional trends differ from global trends, and 3) examine the various drivers of our regional climate and understand how they can change over time.