HSC Geography › Human–Environment Interactions › 13.1
Activity Materials — Characteristics of Climate Change
NSW Stage 6 Geography (2022) · Student worksheet · Data-reading focus
Activity 1 · Climate or weather?
Key definitions · ~8 min
Tick whether each statement describes weather or climate.
| Statement | Weather | Climate |
|---|
| “It's raining right now.” | | |
| “Sydney summers are warm and humid.” | | |
| “This decade was the warmest on record.” | | |
| “A cold front will pass through tomorrow.” | | |
Activity 2 · Read the temperature-anomaly graph
Processing geographical information · ~15 min
Use the graph to answer. Show working where a calculation is asked for.
- Roughly how much warmer is “now” than the baseline?
- In which period does the line rise most steeply?
- Why does it matter that five independent datasets show the same trend?
- Is this a temporal or a spatial characteristic? Explain.
Activity 3 · Ocean warming & storms
Applying geographical understanding · ~10 min
Complete the causal chain, then answer the question.
| More greenhouse heat | → | ? | → | ? (effect on storms) |
|---|
| absorbed by oceans | | | | |
Question: why do warmer oceans make storms more intense rather than necessarily more frequent?
Activity 4 · Spatial vs temporal
Organising geographical information · ~10 min
Sort each characteristic into the correct column.
Items: warming since 1880 · Arctic warms fastest · nearly all regions warmer · fastest in last 40 years · whole of Australia warmed · warmest years this century
| Temporal (over time) | Spatial (across place) |
|---|
| | |
| | |
| | |
Activity 5 · Australian data file
Acquiring geographical information · ~20 min (may be homework)
Using the BoM/CSIRO State of the Climate (latest edition), complete the file. Record the source and year.
| Indicator | Figure / trend | Source (report & year) |
|---|
| Warming per decade (since 1970) | | |
| Warmest year on record | | |
| Trend in dangerous fire-weather days | | |
Activity 6 · Short-response practice
Communicating geographical understanding · ~15 min
Answer in full sentences, using data.
Q: “Describe the spatial and temporal characteristics of recent climate change, using evidence.”
Concept: changeConcept: scaleConcept: environment