Big Deal?

	Average global temperature has increased by almost 1ºF over the past century; scientists expect the average global temperature to increase an additional 2 to 6ºF over the next one hundred years.
	At the peak of the last ice age (18,000 years ago), the temperature was only 7ºF colder than it is today, and glaciers covered much of North America!
	Scientists don't know for sure what climate change will bring.
	Climate change may affect people's health both directly and indirectly.

Ecological disturbances, air pollution, changes in food and water supplies, and coastal flooding are all examples of possible impacts that might affect human health.

Heat stress can be a very serious medical problem. Scientists suspect that, in many places, climate change will increase the number of very hot days that occur during the year.

	Global warming may make the sea level become higher.
	Warmer temperatures also make water expand. When water expands in the ocean, it takes up more space and the level of the sea rises.
	Global warming may make the Earth warmer in cold places. People living in these places may have a chance to grow crops in new areas. But climate change also might bring droughts to other places where we grow crops. In some parts of the world, people may not have enough to eat because they cannot grow the food that they need.

ALL THE INFORMATION ABOVE CAME FROM: http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/bigdeal.html

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	Ecological disturbances, air pollution, changes in food and water supplies, and coastal flooding are all examples of possible impacts that might affect human health.
	Heat stress can be a very serious medical problem. Scientists suspect that, in many places, climate change will increase the number of very hot days that occur during the year.