The importance of this principle is readily apparent: our world is changing, the degree of changes is projected to increase, and many of the consequences will create hardship for humans. Some key points are:

• The impacts of human-caused climate change are already being seen, from polar regions, to our backyards, to communities around the world.
• Consequences of climate change will affect the biosphere on many levels, from coral bleaching, to dying forests, to species extinction.
• Human infrastructure is threatened by a changing climate, such as encroachment of coastlines, stress to the energy grid, and shifting structures as a result of melting permafrost.
• A warming climate threatens mountain snowpacks, fresh water supplies and hydropower that serve millions of people.
• Changes in climate and precipitation patterns will impact agriculture and food security.
• Populations that are already vulnerable in terms of sea level rise and food security are poised for the greatest hardships. Political unrest, migration of refugees and global economic impacts are all possible outcomes.

Source: Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network

Alarming students and the public about the impact of climate hazards, such as droughts and extreme events, can be counter-productive and cause people to ignore the warnings or succumb to denial. However, just glossing over the severity of the impacts and the enormous social and environmental ramifications of climate change can lead to a society that is ill-prepared to deal with change. Finding a balanced approach and avoiding a "despair deficit" is clearly a good practice, both inside and outside of the classroom.

Another challenge for fostering public awareness for the consequences of climate change is that many of the impacts are far away and may not directly touch the lives of our students. Two solutions to this are to use local data to examine climate changes that affect your region, or to employ a case study approach that will allow students to gain a deeper sense of how these impacts will profoundly re-shape people and ecosystems in faraway areas.

Source: Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network

There are many ways to illustrate impacts of climate change. The scale of impacts ranges from global to local, while the nature of these impacts can affect humans, plants, animals and ecosystems.

Integrating Solutions
This is a key area to incorporate solutions into one's pedagogic approach. It can be very easy for students to succumb to despair over the world's problems. Some possibilities include:

• Drawing on case studies showing successful emissions reduction strategies.
• Examining adaptation strategies for humans, plants and animals.
• Creating an atmosphere of creativity and problem-solving as we all strive to meet this grand challenge.

Middle school students are more likely to be familiar with impacts of climate change on animal habitats, such as those of polar bears and penguins. This can be an opportunity to examine impacts of climate change on human populations as a result of sea level rise, for example. See the activity Impacts of Topography on Sea Level Change.

In high school, students can investigate climate change impacts within a number of traditional courses such as geography (to examine sea level rise), biology (to consider species' adaptive strategies) or chemistry (to study the effects of increased carbon dioxide in ocean water, as illustrated by Off Base - Acidity of oceans). In courses such as social studies, students can use case studies to examine the effects of climate change in other cultures, such as polar regions or island nations.

In the introductory undergraduate curriculum, students can use a technology-based approach to study climate effects worldwide. By employing tools such as blogs, Google Earth and the websites of research and governmental agencies, students can examine faraway effects of a changing climate. (for example, see Google Earth Tours of Glacial Change)

Upper-level college students can engage in research about specific types of impacts, such as projections of future sea level rise, sea ice melt or increases in hurricane intensity. (example Exploring the Link between Hurricanes and Climate using GCM Results)

Source: Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network

IPCC Fourth Assessment Report 2007, Working Group I: The Physical Basics - Chapter 2: Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing - scientific summary of the latest state of the scientific knowledge on this topic with a special focus on the human impact on the climate system.

Carbon and Climate - an educational website with a carbon cycle applet for modeling your own projection on carbon emissions and future carbon sinks.

McCaffrey & Buhr, 2008: Clarifying Climate Confusion.- journal article in Physical Geography about common misconceptions in climate science.