How does this link to changing global

temperatures?
 12/09/2021

Natural causes of climate

change
Understand there are a variety of factors that affect the Earth’s
climate

Understand the natural causes of climate change

To successfully apply our understanding to an exam question

What have we
learnt so far?
The climate fluctuates over
time – it has never stayed at a
permanent temperature
The Earth is experiencing a
particularly rapid stage of
temperature increase at the
moment
Task 1: volcanic eruptions Use page 55 and the
handout to complete
your worksheet.

Finished? Come and

collect a challenge
article!
Task 2: Sunspots
Use page 55 and the
handout to complete your
worksheet.

Finished? Come and

collect a challenge article!
 Task 3: Orbital Theory TILT

• Theory created in 1930 by a

Serbian mathematician called
Milutin Milankovitch
WOBBL
E
• The Earth orbits (moves around)
the sun

• The way it does this changes over

VERY long periods of time –
Milankovitch believed these
orbital changes link to the Earth’s
changing temperature

ORBIT
 Task 3: Orbital Theory TILT

Copy these diagrams and write the following.

Precision/WOBBLE
• As the earth spins on its axis it wobbles. The axis wobbles from WOBBL
one extreme to another over a period of 23,000 years. E

Eccentricity/ORBIT
• In the 21st century the Earth is orbiting the sun in a near perfect
circle. Over a period of 100,000 years the orbit changes from a
circle to an oval and back again.

Obliquity/TILT
• Earth is tilted on an axis. Over roughly 40,000 years the angle of
the tilt changes slowly from 21.5 to 24.5. With less tilt out
summers are cooler and winters are milder.

ORBIT
Recap…

Does this make more

sense now?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zqdpyrd
Exam Practice

Examine the natural causes of

climate change (6)

Choose two of the following:

• Volcanic eruptions
• Sunspots
• Orbital thoery
Peer marking
Checklist: • Don’t forget to check
• Have they identified at least two natural causes? their SPAG

• Have they explained how the first cause works accurately? • If they got 6/6 – tell them
what the best part of the
answer was – their
• Have they explained the second natural cause effectively?
explanations, their
evidence etc.
• Is there an element of ‘examine’ eg details comparison…..
• If they lost any marks –
• Have they given examples of how the causes have affected the tell them what they did
Earth’s climate? well and what they could
do to improve
 • https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/pr
So what do ojects/climate-change-evidence-causes/
we have to basics-of-climate-change/
do with it?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4
H1N_yXBiA