Movement Of Plate Tectonics And Climate

Name: Professor’s Name: Course: Date: Plate Tectonics and Climate The topic of climate change has been in the mainstream media for a while now with world leaders debating over the next course of action. Apparently, in a country like Britain, it was hot enough for hippos to exist in a place like Norfolk. However, due to climate change over tens of thousands of years, hippos currently cannot be found in Norfolk because the place is cold. Different factors affect or impact climate and lead to the hotness or coldness of the planet. Some of these factors include the strength or energy released by the sun, slight change in orientation of earth’s axis, change in the earth’s orbit, the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, the content of carbon dioxide in the ocean waters, ocean currents, movement in the earth’s plate tectonics, and finally, volcanic eruptions. Each of the above influences the climate in its way, but it is essential to acknowledge the complexity and connection of the systems involved in altering the earth’s climate. Plate tectonics are part of this complex system of the earth, but by themselves, they cannot influence the earth’s climate. However, their movement does cause changes in the earth and eventually, albeit, over a long time, certain changes in the climate are detected. Movement of Plate Tectonics Wegener did make an important contribution to geography when he opined that the continents of the world had been moving across the surface of the earth. However, while his statement was not incorrect, it highly “underestimated the mobility of Earth’s outer surface. In fact, all of the Earth’s surface is on the move” (98). Apparently, the earth’s outer shell or surface is divided into plates which are always in constant movement, a phenomenon known as gliding. There are nine major plates, and these include the North American, Eurasian, African, Indian, Antarctic, Pacific, Indo-Australian, Australian, and the South American plate. These plates are found in the lithosphere and “move at rates ranging from less than 1 up to 10 centimeters per year and average about the same rate of growth as a fingernail” (99). This growth can and indeed does seem small, but the truth is over a period of time, these shifts add up to large shifts which can be enough to “create or destroy an entire ocean basin” (99). As these shifts continue to happen, other cha...