StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Discuss the impact of volcano-induced climate change in Earth's history - Term Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
The impact of volcano-induced climate change on Earth’s history Introduction Study of earth’s history shows that it the Earth has constantly been undergoing changes much of which is attributed to climate change on Earth. Historically, the climate on earth has been constantly changing in quite a sinuous pattern with crests of times with high temperatures and high CO2 levels followed by troughs of low temperatures and low CO2 levels, on earth and in the atmosphere…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.4% of users find it useful
Discuss the impact of volcano-induced climate change in Earths history
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Discuss the impact of volcano-induced climate change in Earth's history"

Download file to see previous pages

This paper discusses how volcanic activities have caused climate change, and the resulting impact on earth’s history. How Volcanoes induce climate change Although large scale volcanic eruptions last only a few days, the effect of these eruptions on climate on the Earth can last for several years. At first, scientists believed that the dust emitted from volcanic eruptions blocked the solar radiation from reaching earth thereby leading to cooling of the earth. However, measurements later indicated that most of this ejected dust returns back to earth within six months of the volcanic eruption.

The stratospheric data suggests that during large explosive volcanic eruptions, large quantities of greenhouse gases (CO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas are also expunged into the atmosphere. SO2 reacts with the water vapor in the stratosphere and converts to sulfate aerosols, which are sub-micron droplets containing 75% sulfuric acid. These aerosols form a dense optically bright haze layer. Typically, they stay in the stratosphere for 2-4 years. Now, the large quantities of greenhouse gases released by volcanoes trap the heat radiated off the surface of the earth and form a sort of insulation around the planet.

Further, the volcanic aerosol clouds scatter a significant amount of incoming Sun’s radiation back to space. This effect is known as “radiative forcing” that can last for up to 2-3 years following a volcanic eruption. Due to these two combined effects, the Earth experiences a change in climate pattern (NASA, 2011). Evidence of climate change due to volcanic eruptions Observational evidence has also shown that volcanic eruptions and lowering of global temperatures are correlated. Four of the largest eruptions in the recent past have been associated with significant lowering of average global/regional temperatures (DGSDU, 2011) - the eruptions of Laki, Iceland in 1783, Mt Tambora, Indonesia in 1815, Krakatu, Indonesia in 1883, and two large volcanic eruptions occurred within a gap of one month in 1991 – one in Philippines (Pinatubo) and Chile (Mt Hudson) in 1991.

Over the next two years, the mean world temperature was observed to have dropped by about 1°C. Research on the recent eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland in 2010 showed that the effect of volcanoes on climate change could have been previously underestimated by 7 to 8 orders of magnitude (Boulon, Sellegri, Hervo, & Laj, 2011). This leads us to believe that there could have been a significant effect of volcano-induced climate change that significantly impacted the earth history. Impact on earth history The volcanic activity as we see today is only a small proportion of the level of volcanic activity of the historical past when large scale volcanic eruptions were much more common, long lasting, and frequent.

Thus, the volcano induced climate change could possibly even have led to major changes in earth’s history. For example, approximately 70,000 years ago, a large scale volcanic eruption of Mt Toba, Sumatra may have caused a terribly cold winter leading to the coldest 1000 years of the Last Ice Age (Michigan Tech, 2011). Sev Kender conducted research on the middle Miocene period (16 to 11.5 million years ago) and found that super-volcanic eruptions may have caused terribly cold win

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Discuss the impact of volcano-induced climate change in Earth's Term Paper”, n.d.)
Discuss the impact of volcano-induced climate change in Earth's Term Paper. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/geography/1434337-discuss-the-impact-of-volcano-induced-climate
(Discuss the Impact of Volcano-Induced Climate Change in Earth'S Term Paper)
Discuss the Impact of Volcano-Induced Climate Change in Earth'S Term Paper. https://studentshare.org/geography/1434337-discuss-the-impact-of-volcano-induced-climate.
“Discuss the Impact of Volcano-Induced Climate Change in Earth'S Term Paper”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/geography/1434337-discuss-the-impact-of-volcano-induced-climate.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Discuss the impact of volcano-induced climate change in Earth's history

Causes of Climatic Change

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Causes of climatic change Climate change refers to the change in the climatic distribution of weather patterns over a period.... change in the climate of a given region, is because of natural and human induced factors on the environment.... This paper discusses three factors that cause change in the climatic conditions of an area.... Ocean circulation is another significant factor that results to a change in the climatic conditions....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

The Swedish Climate Scientist - Svante Arrhenius

hellip; The author of the essay explains that immediately after publication of the article Arrhenius faced strong opposition: his arguments and predictions were dismissed as faulty, and it was not until the last decades that the climate change finally drew the attention of the scientific community and public.... 1% of the earth's atmosphere.... In the paper “The Swedish climate Scientist - Svante Arrhenius” the author discusses an article in the journal, where Arrhenius argued that doubling of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere would lead to increase of the global surface temperature....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

Global Warming

There is not much debate as to the need to slow down this process and many methods for protecting the environment have been introduced, but while this may slow down the impact of Global Warming it is unclear if the effects that have already taken place can be reversed.... Over the course of the earth's history, there have been changes in climate and temperature so while a change may not initially seem to be unusual, the increase in average temperature has occurred faster then at any other know time period....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper

Aerosol-Cloud Interactions: A Piece of the Climate Puzzle

hellip; The climate as always is and always will be, will remain the most important part of the change in the weather both now and in the near future.... To add to that, there is the question of what happens when these major oceanic clouds move over land and whether the aerosol interactions change (Bowler 76).... Therefore, for a much more improved model outcrop of future climate, there is much importance in the quantitative comprehension of these effects....
9 Pages (2250 words) Literature review

Global Warming: Causes and Effects

Unfortunately, global warming is a global phenomenon closely related to climate change.... Such public indifference coupled with the complexity of climate change, long feedback time, and non-linear nature of climatic processes, maybe rather dangerous in the long-term perspective.... The time scale for such change is measured in centuries rather than in years, while the dynamics of the climate involves a number of factors and variables and is still poorly understood....
6 Pages (1500 words) Article

The Science Of Climate Change

To understand the problem of climate change and why it is a major global concern, the paper "The Science Of climate change" discusses the causes of the condition then its impacts and the responses that various interest groups have undertaken to address the issue.... hellip; climate change refers to changes in weather distribution over a period of time.... climate change may take place in a specific region or it can take place in the whole world....
22 Pages (5500 words) Case Study

Natural Disasters in the UAE

nbsp;… Extreme climate conditions have been the result of the above initiatives.... In fact, natural disaster in the specific country has been mostly related to the human intervention on natural sites; the construction projects developed across UAE in order to improve the country's infrastructure have led to the transformation of the region at such level that the geographical structure of the region has been totally alternated, a fact that increase the risks for the development of natural disasters in case of extreme climate conditions....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

How Global Warming Affects Animals

nbsp; Based on studies conducted in the past few decades by means of the broad scientific accord, climate change is attributed to global warming.... Most research papers analyze Global Warming by giving introductory comments and definitions while disregarding the impact it has on wildlife.... the impact this issue has caused the animals is so enormous that has necessitated this research.... In their findings, the hottest years in the world's history occurred between 1994 and 1999....
12 Pages (3000 words) Term Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us