Earth's Climate Change In The Ice Age

Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization. Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. This body of data, collected over many years, reveals the signals of a changing climate.

Global Warming is caused by extreme quantities of greenhouse gases emitted into Earth’s near-surface atmosphere, (Deborah White). Greenhouse gases are produced by both man and occur naturally. These gases consist of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons. These gases are what cause global warming or the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is produced by volcanic eruptions, natural fires, fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and land use changes (such as converting forests to urban development. Methane is another greenhouse gas which is produced by the decay of organic substances in landfills, wetlands, and rice fields; also enteric fermentation in the digestive tracts of ruminant animals. Nitrous Oxide is produced by the use of

The greenhouse effect, warming that occurs whenever the atmosphere traps heat from Earth towards space, is the main cause of global warming (NASA, 2016). Gases such as water vapor, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane do not respond chemically to drastic changes in temperature, force climate change. One of the reasons for this is because of the deforestation of land for agriculture or industrial needs has increased concentration of green house gases.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most significant of these gases. The amount of naturally produced CO2 is almost perfectly balanced by the amount naturally removed through photosynthesis and its dissolution in oceans. However, the overuse of fossil fuels is leading to increased CO2 in the atmosphere, trapping more and more heat and warming the Earth.

These gasses trap warmth and reason the planet to warm through a procedure called the greenhouse effect. Since 1751 around 337 billion metric huge amounts of CO2 have been discharged into the climate from the using of fossil fills and concrete generation, expanding air CO2 from the pre-mechanical level of around 280 ppm (parts per million), to a high of 400 ppm in 2013. Methane, which is expanding in the climate because of farming and fossil fuel use, traps 84 times as much warmth as CO2 for the initial 20 years it is in the environment, and is in charge of around one-fifth of a dangerous atmospheric climate change since 1750. Nitrous oxide, fundamentally discharged through farming practices, traps 300 times as much warmth as CO2. Over the twentieth century, as the convergences of CO2, CH4, and NO2 expanded in the air, the earth warmed by pretty nearly 1.4°.

The earth has an undeniable history of climate change whether it be warming or cooling. The evidence of the Little Ice Age proves the earth can cool by its own with no aid of human influence. However, in recent years it has been suggested humans have been instrumental in the warming of our planet and the melting of polar ice as a result of the industrial era. The industrial era has brought upon the increase of greenhouse gas emitted. According to City Metric, “One idea is that small increases in greenhouse gases due to the expansion of agriculture that started 8,000 years ago have in fact delayed the next ice age.” (Mark Maslin, 2017) The cause of ice ages is not completely understood, but seems to be a natural occurrence. However, the idea that ice ages were caused by the earth’s orbit still is not irrelevant.

According to a study performed by the University of Northumbria (https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/) of the United Kingdom, Earth’s northern hemisphere should be experiencing a mini ice age in the next 15 years. However, new research shows that this may not be the case after all. This could just be a case of confusing causation with correlation, but that doesn’t forgive the phenomenal ‘news’ being released without confirmation and having the claim be refuted mere days later.

Due to recent increases in the Earths average temperature Climate Change has become a highly discussed topic in society. This has caused individuals to solely focus on the increasing temperatures of today and completely neglect temperatures that the planet has experienced in the past. When looking at paleoclimate data one can clearly see the fluxuations in the ice age cycles (periods of cooling and warming). Ice age cycles are amplified by positive feedback systems that make the earth cooler or warmer depending upon the physical process that is being altered. In his response Bruce Parker, a physical oceanographer, discussed the impact that these positive feedback loops have on Earths overall temperature and how scientists have yet to figure out what causes the amplifying mechanisms to switch from warming to cooling.

Did you know that during the ice agea the CO2 levels on earth were around 200 ppm and hovered to 280 ppm during the warmer periods? Last 2013 it surpassed 400 ppm for the first time in recorded history and is currently at 403.93 ppm as of October 2016. Because of this increase there are several environmental changes that people experience such as higher sea levels. Global sea level rose about 17 centimeters in the last century. The next effect is higher global temperature. Last year it was the first time that the global average temperature was higher than the average during 1880-1899.The increased temperature also lead to warmer oceans, shrinking ice sheets and Arctic sea ice, glacial retreat , decreased snow cover ,and extreme events. It

Following the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s, carbon dioxide levels began rising with the increased burning of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide is considered a greenhouse gas, which traps solar radiation inside of the atmosphere. The natural greenhouse effect keeps our planet from freezing over. However, increase concentration of human-generated greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are now the major force driving climate change causing a 1.4°C increase in

The world naturally produces gasses, the most common being nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and methane. While these gasses are the basic building blocks of the earths atmosphere they are also green house gasses, gasses that are the main contributors to global warming. According to the Oxford English Dictionary global warming is, “A long-term gradual increase in the temperature of the earth 's atmosphere and oceans” (Global) and this increase in

There are four major gases that cause the greenhouse effect.  These chemicals are Chloroflourocarbons (CFC’s), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and Methane (CH4).  “CFC’s destroy ozone molecules by the thousands, causing a smaller amount of ozone in the ozone layer.  This allows more UV rays hit the Earth’s surface, causing a slight increase of the Earth’s temperature.  The more ozone molecules destroyed, the more UV rays enter the Earth’s atmosphere, making the temperature even higher”(What Is The Greenhouse Effect).

Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas naturally found in the atmosphere. Since the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s, humans have devised many inventions that burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gases, which, along with other human activities such as clearing land for agriculture or urban settlements, help some of these greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere that in turn trap more heat radiation in the atmosphere causing the Earth’s climate to become warmer than it would naturally (Mastrandrea). This unnatural phenomenon is termed global warming by scientists and they blame it for an increase in the Earth’s surface temperature of about 0.6°C (about 1°F) over the last 100 years (Mastrandrea).

The earth’s climate is predicted to change because human activities are altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of greenhouse gases –– primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed. Although uncertainty exists about exactly how earth’’s climate responds to these gases, global temperatures are rising. Go to the Emissions section for much more on greenhouse gases.

The issue of global warming should be on the list of our top priorities. Studies show that the average of global temperatures have risen since the Industrial Revolution began. Since the Industrial Revolution, human emissions has quadrupled the frequency of certain heat extremes and many scientists have warned that a failure to bring greenhouse gases under control could eventually lead to a 62-fold increase in extreme heat blasts (Gillis Justin A17). Most of the increase is due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. These activities contribute to a build-up in carbon dioxide and other gases in Earth’s atmosphere. The Earth’s atmosphere is made of gases like nitrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen. These gases act as a blanket that covers and gives us warmth, but once these gases such as carbon dioxide absorbs heat, but does not release it back into space in which causes the increase in global temperature. This is called the greenhouse effect because it only traps heat but does not release it.