How the CIA Secretly Spied On Climate Change
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Provided by: Be Smart|Published on: June 14, 2025
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Scientist Reviewed This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- In this video from Be Smart, students will learn how the space race and Cold War eventually led to the availability of data to study climate change.
- Students will hear a wild story of unlikely cooperation between intelligence operatives and scientists and the United States and Russia.
Subjects: History
Authors: Be Smart
Region: Asia, United States
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This story gives a fresh perspective on a familiar time in history that students may not have heard before.
- The video's host is an excellent storyteller who will keep students engaged throughout the video.
Prerequisites
- Students should have some knowledge about the Cold War, the space race, and tensions between the United States and Russia.
Differentiation & Implementation
- To illustrate the chain of events leading up to this cooperation, students can create a timeline of the events mentioned.
- Teachers can pause after the segment starting at 2:58 to have students explore this interactive time-lapse, which shows the warming of the planet over time using Google Earth, much like the video's host demonstrates in this segment.
- Throughout the video, students can identify examples of cooperation. Then, looking at these examples, students can write a suggestion for how countries and stakeholders should cooperate to solve climate change.
This resource presents the history of spy satellite technology during the Cold War and how images collected were used to advance climate change research. The video features interviews with those involved in the project and stresses the importance of collaboration in scientific research. This resource details the history of an important asset in climate change research and is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
