Climate change could be one of the biggest issues we face. Climate change can and has been
drastically changed through natural processes, but I do not believe that natural climate change
occurs as quickly as it does through human intervention. The purpose of this journal is to
compare and contrast human vs. natural climate change while looking at the past and the
present and defending my opinion on what the largest factor for climate change is
Natural Causes
The Snowball Earth
Around 600-700 million years ago, there was a 10-million-year period where Earth was
covered in ice that was 1km thick (The National Center for Atmospheric Research & the
UCAR Office of Programs, 2001). This caused many of the organisms living before this to
perish (The National Center for Atmospheric Research & the UCAR Office of Programs.
2001). We know that the Earth is not as cold as it was then, it wasn't that cold before this, and
there were no humans. We can assume huge climate changes were naturally occurring.
The Mesozoic Greenhouse
Around 135-115 million years ago, during the last period of the Mesozoic, there is evidence
pointing towards a huge amount of greenhouse gases, specifically carbon dioxide, being
spewed out by volcanoes, thus increasing the greenhouse effect (The National Center for
Atmospheric Research & the UCAR Office of programs, 2003). It is believed that this was
one of Earth's warmest periods (The National Center for Atmospheric Research & the UCAR
Office of programs, 2003).
The Earth's Orbit and Rotation
Throughout Earth's history and still, to this day, Earth has not had one consistent orbit and
rotation (US EPA, 2022). It has caused ice ages and global warming (US EPA, 2022).
Throughout history, the past's average temperature was 11F colder than what it is today, but
history has also shown times when it was around 2F warmer than what it is today (US EPA.
2022).
Solar Activity
The sun does not put out one universal and consistent amount of energy. Throughout history.
the intensity of the sun's energy that has reached Earth has fluctuated and has caused some
climate change (US EPA, 2022). However, this has not been the case recently (US EPA,
2022). Since 1978, the temperature rose, but the amount of energy from the sun seems to
have gone down (US EPA, 2022). This is not a good thing.
Human Causes
Greenhouse Gases
The Earth naturally releases its own greenhouse gases via volcanoes, respiration and
decomposition of plants, and oceanic releases (European Commission, 2021). However.
humans hold the record for a huge amount of greenhouse gases being released in a very short
period of time (European Commission, 2021). We release greenhouse gases from burning
fossil fuels, livestock farming, fertilizers, and fluorinated gases (European Commission,
2021).
Deforestation
As mentioned in the previous point, greenhouse gases are being released in shocking
amounts. Plant life is a brilliant way to deal with greenhouse gases like CO2. However,
humans have been cutting down natural forests for the purposes of developmen