Climate Change: History And Natural Causes

Climate Change Student Institution Climate Change Introduction Climate change is defined as natural occurrence whereby the aspects of the effects of weather that determine the geophysical conditions of a region are not constant. The causes of this phenomenon are varied, and the methods of mitigating its impact are continuously reviewed across the globe. These changes negatively affect the ecosystem with human activities contributing the most significant impact on the change in climatic conditions. The conditions of the atmosphere are determined by human activities like energy emissions and other factors like urbanization and depletion of natural resources. Duration of climate change are variable and can be either long term or short term. The drivers of climate change are categorized into natural causes as well as human activity. History of climate change Early climates were devoid of glaciers and ice sheets and instead were prone to ice ages. The temperatures ranged between 14 and 27 degrees Fahrenheit. After the Cretaceous period, the earth was ice free and was warm. The following generation, the Pleistocene Age that happened over 1.8 million years ago saw temperatures fall drastically. After the Pleistocene Ice age, temperatures rose again to the present climate and has been milder. 207645297180Illustration SEQ Illustration \* alphabetic a: A mountain of the glacierIllustration SEQ Illustration \* alphabetic a: A mountain of the glacier Natural causes of climate change The physical causes of climate change include changes in the amount of solar radiation, Milankovitch cycles ( the patterns of variation in solar radiation), the earth's position proportional to the sun, a region;s position from the equator and the distance between continents or plate tectonics, which causes volcanic eruptions as well as other geologic activities. (Desonie, 2008) Other natural causes include geophysical activities such as volcanic activities, impacts of asteroids and meteorites, ocean currents as well as atmospheric pressure, which results in the distribution of temperatures and precipitation. These take long periods of time to occur, unlike human activities. The above mentioned meteorological activities also contribute towards global warming. Temperature has been variably measured over time using different metrics. Indicators for sea surface temperatures, marine air temperatures, land surface air temperatures and borehole temperatures have been changing over a period. Natural changes to the climate take many years to happen due to the shift in the conditions of both the atmosphere and the oceans.right635 I...