Jake Nolan

4-16-16
Geo-1700
Climate Change

Climate Change is Real

The Earths climate naturally goes through a cycle, this cycle is one of
glacial advances and retreats. These cycles span over centuries and have
been constant over the past 650,000 years, with seven occurring in that time
period. The Earths climate goes through these shifts because of slight
changes in the Earths orbit which impact the amount of energy that the
earth receives through the Sun. The last Ice Age occurred 7,000 years and
since that the retreating stage has been occurring but has human interaction
influenced this glacial retreat negatively?
Yes, human interaction is changing the climate dramatically, especially
since the 21st century. With the wave of new technology such as
automobiles and other machinery that requires fuel, humans have been
changing the composition of the earths atmosphere. Due to this lack of care
for the changing of the atmosphere humans have continue to dump more
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than this Earth has seen in over 400,000
years. Through this human interaction, increasing the amount of carbon
dioxide in our atmosphere, we are beginning to see global effects such as

sea level rise, global temperature rise, warming of the oceans, shinking ice
sheets, declining Arctic sea ice, glacial retreat, extreme weather events,
ocean acidification, and decreased snow cover.
Right now we are in an Interglacial Period being called the Holocene,
this is a warming period for the Earth. What causes an Interglacial period is a
shift in the Earths position in its orbit, this shift brings on a more intense
reception of energy from the Sun causing a global warming. The Holocene
period begun around 7,000 years ago and already we are reaching levels
that rival other Interglacial periods. The normal Interglacial period last
around 23,000 years according to NOAA and with atmospheric levels we
have today almost rivaling past Interglacial peaks climate control is
something to think about.
The last Interglacial period was called the Penultimate Interglacial
Period or the Eemian period as refer to in Europe. This is the latest period in
our Earths history that most relates to the climate we are experiencing now.
125,000 years ago in the Penultimate Interglacial period, the Earth was only
1 to 2 degrees Celsius warmer than today and sea levels werent significantly
higher than todays. This means that we will be entering uncharted territories
as we move forward in society if we continue on the path that we are on.
In 1950 we began to enter uncharted waters in our atmospheric make
up, breaking 300 ppm of carbon dioxide. We are currently at 400 ppm of
carbon dioxide and increasing more rapidly in the last decade than the past
century. This has great global effects, first being the rise in sea level. Sea

level has rose 17 centimeters in the past century and is continuing to rise
due to glacial melting at the poles. The rise in carbon dioxide is also
intensifying the global heat, causing a rapid temperature increase starting in
1880 and intensifying in 1970 with 10 of the hottest years in history all being
within the past 12 years. Carbon dioxide is not only being pumped into the
atmosphere but it also effects our oceans, the main problem being ocean
acidification. Ocean acidification has been a problem ever since the Industrial
Revolution, with the amount of carbon dioxide being pumped out by humans
our oceans are rapidly becoming diluted. Every year our oceans upper layer
absorbs carbon dioxide at alarmingly disturbing rates, and this absorption is
being increased yearly at 2 billion ton amounts. These are all signs that we
are directly effecting our environment.
The Earths climate cycle is 100,000 years long, so it is hard to
understand how our actions are going to effect our future environment but
every action has a consequence. We may not be here when our globe
dramatically changes to the point of real daily differences but our children
might and our grandchildren might. Global climate change is a real thing and
it is something that we should all be conscious of, to preserve our childrens
future environment.

Bibliography

"Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?" Climate Change: Vital Signs

of the Planet. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
"Glacial-Interglacial Cycles." NOAA Paleoclimatology Program. NOAA, 20 Aug.
2008. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
"The Penultimate Interglacial Period." NOAA Paleoclimatology Global
Warming. NOAA, 20 Aug. 2008. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.