My latest student interactive for ELLs at the NY Times is on climate change. It introduces students to the problem, and it also teaches them about the “Five W’s” – who, what, where, when and why. A writing prompt is included.
I thought it would be helpful to put together a list of related online resources that are accessible to English Language Learners.
I also have a number of links on The Best Sites To Introduce Environmental Issues Into The Classroom, and won’t be duplicating them here. So you might want to check-out that list, too. You might also be interested in The Best Resources On Teens Demanding An Effective Response To Climate Change and The Best Online Carbon Calculators.
Here are my choices for The Best Sites To Learn About Climate Change (not in any order of preference):
Tides Of Change is a series of closed-captioned NASA videos related to climate change. NASA also has a site entirely devoted to climate change issues, including many interactives. Check out NASA’s Climate Kids site, too.
Here’s an infographic showing which countries have lived up to the Kyoto agreement on the environment and which have not.
What Causes Global Warming? is simple series of pictures demonstrating various activities that contribute to global warming. When you put your cursor on each picture, a short explanation appears.
The Washington Post has a Global Emissions Interactive that shows the amount of carbon emissions from each country has changed over the years.
What Is Global Warming? comes from the CBBC Newsround.
TckTckTck is another neat site related to climate change.
Is weather becoming more extreme? is a slideshow from The Boston Globe.
An Interactive History of Climate Science is pretty neat — you need to check it out to see how neat it really is.
“Conversations With The Earth” is a new site from the Smithsonian. Here’s how it describes itself:
exhibition—the first of its kind devoted to indigenous science—provides a Native perspective on global climate change. Through photographs, video, and audio of tribal communities from the Arctic to Brazil, the environmental impact of pollution is found in the stories of imposed mitigation and its consequences on local livelihoods.
Conversations with the Earth offers the voices of the Earth’s traditional stewards in the search for a viable response to the challenges of climate change. In the words of Inupiat leader Patricia Cochran, chair of the Indigenous Peoples Global summit on Climate Change, “We are a harbinger of what is to come, what the rest of the world can expect.”
Without question, the best part of the site shows tons of video interviews with people from all over the world.
A Student’s Guide to Climate Change is from The Environmental Protection Agency.
NASA Visualization Shows Global Temperature Changes (VIDEO) is from The Huffington Post.
Global Warming & Climate Change Myths is from Skeptical Science.
Surging Seas shows the impact of rising sea levels due to climate change.
NASA has created video titled “Watch 131 Years of Global Warming in 26 Seconds” and you can read more about it here :
Here’s a video mash-up from the Symphony Of Science to The Best Sites To Learn About Climate Change:
Planet In Peril is from CNN.
The New York Times has published an interactive that allows you to see how rising waters might effect major cities throughout the United States.
NASA just released video showing temperature changes in the world since 1880 and including 2012 — it’s an updated version of one they’ve released in previous years:
Permafrost and climate change – interactive is from The Guardian.
How Climate Change Will Affect The World’s Poorest, In One Eye-Opening Graphic is from Co.Exist.
Four Ways To Visually & Musically Chart Global Warming
You can read more about NASA’s latest video on climate change showing what happens to the United States.
How the West Coast Will Look Under 25 Feet of Water is an interactive from Popular Science.
Climate change: how hot will it get in my lifetime? – interactive is a good interactive from The Guardian — type in your birthdate and you get the answer.
IPCC climate change figures: then and now – interactive is from The Guardian.
The Global Carbon Atlas is quite an impressive interactive.
Mapping the American carbon footprint, down to the last zip code (interactive maps) is from Shrink That Footprint.
National Geographic has an interactive map showing rising sea levels. Thanks to Richard Byrne for the tip.
Big Facts On Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security is an extremely impressive new interactive site on the effects of climate change. It shows its effect in a variety of ways on every region on the earth.
Here’s how it describes itself:
Big Facts is a resource of the most up-to-date and robust facts relevant to the nexus of climate change, agriculture and food security. It is intended to provide a credible and reliable platform for fact checking amid the range of claims that appear in reports, advocacy materials and other sources. Full sources are supplied for all facts and figures and all content has gone through a process of peer review.
Big Facts is also an open-access resource. We encourage everyone to download, use and share the facts and graphic images. We believe that by sharing knowledge we can aid the type of interdisciplinary understanding and collaboration necessary for meeting the challenges posed to agriculture and food security in the face of climate change.
The Big Facts project is led by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). CCAFS is a strategic partnership of CGIAR and Future Earth, led by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). CCAFS brings together the world’s best researchers in agricultural science, development research, climate science and Earth System science, to identify and address the most important interactions, synergies and tradeoffs between climate change, agriculture and food security.
White House Unveils New Climate Change Website, Though It’s Nothing To Write Home About — Yet
This map shows how the world has been hurt by climate change so far and A terrifying map of what climate change will mean around the world this century are both from The Washington Post, and are taken from the recent UN report on climate change.
Interactive map: Which countries have emitted the most carbon since 1850? is from Slate.
Thousands March for Climate Change is from NBC News.
Climate change summit: Thousands join global protests is from The BBC.
A Simple Lesson On Climate Change For English Language Learners
The Lowdown has brought together several good interactives on climate changes.
The lesson for this next TED-Ed video can be found here.
Climate Change In Perspective is an impressive interactive from Bloomberg.
What the warmest year looks like is from The Washington Post.
TED-Ed published a video and lesson titled Why the Arctic is climate change’s canary in the coal mine:
Map: The countries most vulnerable to climate change is from The Washington Post.
NASA has a site entirely devoted to climate change.
What’s Really Warming The World? is an interactive from Bloomberg.
What’s Really Warming The World is an impressive interactive from Bloomberg.
Which countries are doing the most to stop dangerous global warming? is an interactive from The Guardian.
What you don’t know about America and climate change is from CNN.
Climate change is here. is from National Geographic.
Here are many infographics on climate change.
The World Keeps Turning To Coal is a Wash. Post interactive.
The Great Thaw is also from The Washington Post.
Esri has created a number of interactive maps that, in my humble opinion, have almost too much data to be useful to the average teacher or student. But it is impressive, indeed. Here’s an embeddable version of their Atlas For A Changing Planet, but I’d recommend you go directly to their site:
The New York Times has published a much more accessible Short Answers to Hard Questions About Climate Change.
The Economist has published Videographic: climate change and the state of carbon consumption:
The Paris Climate Deal May Be Too Little, Too Late for the Islanders of Kiribati is from TIME.
Pacific Islander Poets Use Art, Stories to Urge Climate Action at UN Conference is from NBC News.
For The Marshall Islands, The Climate Goal Is ‘1.5 To Stay Alive’ is from NPR.
Global Warming, Explained is from Vox.
Gauging a warming world is from the Washington Post.
Unsettling New Report On Science Teachers & Climate Change
How Much Warmer Was Your City in 2015? is a new NY Times interactive that shows how recent temperatures in over 3,000 cities compare with historical highs. I think it would be a better resource if the differences were displayed a bit more clearer than they are, but students should be able to figure it out with a little teacher guidance.
Measuring the Planet’s Health in Vibrant Shades of Green is from The New York Times.
Ice and Sky is an interactive describing the history of climate change.
Climate Central has created this interactive:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has created The Climate Explorer. Here’s how the describe it:
Explore maps and graphs of historical and projected climate trends in your local area. View data by topics to see how climate change will impact things you care about.
Type in your zip code and you get lots of info, along with accessible explanations for how to interpret it.
Scientist finds clever new way to represent same old depressing climate trends is from Vox.
A Lesson Plan About Climate Change and the People Already Harmed by It is from The New York Times Learning Network.
A majority of people agree that climate change is harming Americans. But they don’t believe it will harm them. https://t.co/XzBgm9Xe1a pic.twitter.com/tFS9eKk9bQ
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 21, 2017
Fwiw, my YouTube playlist of “climate shorts”- some of my favorite mini explainers & oddities. What should I add? https://t.co/sT2rysgYsg pic.twitter.com/x88AjBMLtD
— Andy Revkin (@Revkin) March 14, 2017
In my post-Dot Earth life relying on @jdsutter et al for this kind of coverage: Geography of US climate confusion https://t.co/izfPV8o9nE pic.twitter.com/RIimF8BRuu
— Andy Revkin (@Revkin) February 28, 2017
Seven Things To Know About Climate Change is an interactive from National Geographic. The PBS News Hour did this video segment on it:
Stanford has an impressive climate change curriculum.
Climate Change Effects Explained in Maps is from GIS Geography.
Racing to Find Answers in the Ice is a NY Times interactive.
The U.S. Is the Biggest Carbon Polluter in History is another NY Times interactive.
GUARDIANS OF THE PLANET is a lesson for ELLs on climate change from ELT-Cation.
Seven Things to Know About Climate Change is from National Geographic.
Heatwaves: Number of deadly heat days is an interactive map that lets you track…heatwaves over the years.
Climate Impact Map is another impressive interactive map showing the pas and future of climate change.
Short answers to hard questions about climate change, updated for 2017 https://t.co/BVAg1IrTjl
— NYT Science (@NYTScience) July 7, 2017
Where climate change will hit the U.S. hardesthttps://t.co/YokjVbuPcY pic.twitter.com/Bkt2oypHxf
— Axios (@axios) June 29, 2017
This is a wild and depressing interactive called “Temperature anomalies arranged by country 1900 – 2016.” It was created by Antti Lipponen and you can read more about here:
A couple of years ago, The NY Times published an excellent climate change “explainer” – a list of questions about it with short and simple answers. They’ve just put a band-new, updated and more attractive interactive version headlined Climate Change Is Complex. We’ve Got Answers to Your Questions. I think it’s perfect for classrooms.
A Brief History of CO2 Emissions from FH Potsdam on Vimeo.
It’s Cold Outside. Cue the Trump Global Warming Tweet. is from The NY Times.
New PBS NewsHour Video Segment: “Attempts to rein in climate change education draw backlash”
Take this scary climate change test at The New York Times. It shows you what different states will look like in 10,000 years if global warming is not stopped.
Climate change in the United States presented in 123 red, white and blue stripes is from The Washington Post.
Climate change and life events is an interactive that lets you show how your personal life events correspond to global climate changes.
Earth Time “enables users to interact with visualizations of the Earth’s transformation over time. Combining huge data sets with images captured by NASA satellites between 1984 and 2016, EarthTime brings to life patterns of natural change and human impact.”
Massive NY Times Project On Climate Change Accompanied By Good Lesson Plans
Exodus: The Climate Migration Crisis is an impressive project from the Weather Channel.
It examines how climate change is forcing people around the world to leave their communities.
Which cities are liveable without air conditioning – and for how much longer? is from The Guardian.
The WIRED Guide to Climate Change is from…Wired.
Red hot planet: This summer’s punishing and historic heat in 7 maps and charts is from The Washington Post.
How Much Hotter Is Your Hometown Than When You Were Born? is a new New York Times interactive that lets you type in name of your hometown (or any town) and the year of your birth. It will then show you the number of increased days the temperature there has been over ninety and the anticipated increase into the future.
It’s not a pretty picture.
TEACHING RESOURCES ON U.N. REPORT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Weather 2050 is a new interactive from Vox that lets you see what the average winter and summer temperature is predicted to me in your town in ….2050.
6 ways ordinary people can prevent climate change, according to researchers and advocates is from NBC News.
Ten simple ways to act on climate change is from The BBC.
Five myths about climate change is from The Washington Post.
Watch how the climate could change in these US cities by 2050 is from Vox.
Why Cold Snaps Don’t Disprove Climate Change is from Public Radio.
Examining The Link Between Climate And Weather is from NPR.
USEFUL RESPONSES TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S TWEET QUESTIONING GLOBAL WARMING
The New York Times Learning Network has just published this amazing resource: Teach About Climate Change With These 24 New York Times Graphs. It includes both the graphs and teaching ideas on how to use them.
Eight Ways To Teach Climate Change In Almost Any Classroom is from MindShift.
Here’s an impressive animation:
Animation: The countries with the largest cumulative CO2 emissions since 1750
Ranking as of the start of 2019:
1) US – 397GtCO2
2) CN – 214Gt
3) fmr USSR – 180
4) DE – 90
5) UK – 77
6) JP – 58
7) IN – 51
8) FR – 37
9) CA – 32
10) PL – 27 pic.twitter.com/cKRNKO4O0b— Carbon Brief (@CarbonBrief) April 23, 2019
You can read more about it at Vox’s article, Why the US bears the most responsibility for climate change, in one chart.
This next visual also comes from Vox:
Educating girls and family planning could together reduce 120 gigatons of CO2-equivalent by 2050. That’s more than on-and offshore wind power combined. #EarthDay pic.twitter.com/U5VG4SQC5i
— Vox (@voxdotcom) April 22, 2019
You can read more about it at This book ranks the top 100 solutions to climate change. The results are surprising.
Two very engaging interactives about climate change recently were published online, and they both use similar strategies – you are challenged to answer questions, including ranking things in order, and then are provided with feedback on how you did and what the correct answers are…There’s no question this kind of interaction would attract the interest of students. They are:
Your Questions About Food and Climate Change, Answered, which is from The NY Times.
The most effective ways to curb climate change might surprise you, which is from CNN.
Nature’s emergency: Where we are in five graphics is from The BBC.
You will find more infographics at Statista
Here And Now: These Maps Show How Climate Change Has Already Transformed The Earth is from BuzzFeed.
The BBC has a 3D map that shows the climate from the past 100 years in a location and then projects its climate for the next century. It’s called How Much Warmer is your City?
The University of Maryland has created a somewhat similar interactive map projecting the climate sixty years into the future. Here’s a video talking about it:
Zillow has teamed-up with Climate Central to create the Surging Seas interactive. Type in the name of any coastal location in the United States, and you’ll see what the future holds. And it ain’t pretty. You can read more about it at the Sacramento Bee article, Could your neighborhood be wiped out by climate change? Here’s how to find out.
2°C: BEYOND THE LIMIT: Extreme climate change has arrived in America is a very useful interactive from The Washington Post.
You will find more infographics at Statista
The Climate Change Tracker shows which countries are most responsible for contributing to climate change.
A teachable moment: educators must join students in demanding climate justice is from The Guardian.
Is Climate Change a Big Deal? shows how much have temperatures changed in cities across the US.
Half a century of dither and denial – a climate crisis timeline is from The Guardian.
Rising Seas Will Erase More Cities by 2050, New Research Shows is a NY Times interactive.
Climate Change Education is a middle and high school climate change curriculum from Stanford.
The American Educator has an issue on climate change.
Students want climate change lessons. Schools aren’t ready is from The L.A. Times.
In case someone gets inspired: this is a really good social studies/English unit on Climate Change that allows debate to occur; but NOT a debate on the reality/causes of climate change, but how we should respond:https://t.co/IzlF8af3dQ
— Altaira Morbius (@Altair4_2381) December 23, 2019
Mission 1.5 is a simulation game from the United Nations that lets you help deal with global warming.
I’m adding this new video to this list. You can see all the data appearing in the video here.
Earth is overheating. Millions are already feeling the pain. is from The NY Times.
Every Place Has Its Own Climate Risk. What Is It Where You Live? is a new interactive from The NY Times. You click on your county, and and it will least which climate challenges face your community.
Google Arts and Culture has quite a few interesting features under “Experiments.” I especially like one that lets you design your own dance, and another that shows the environmental footprint of one’s diet.
Thanks for your work in compiling these useful sites in one place!