1. Natural Causes of climate change

2. Volcanic eruptions
Volcanic eruptions eject tons of SO2 and ash into the atmosphere.
These substance reflect
solar radiation back into
space resulting in global
cooling.

3. Orbit around the sun
Three aspects of earth’s orbit affect climate: eccentricity, precession, and tilt.
Eccentricity – the shape of earth’s orbit

4. Earth’s tilt on its axis causes seasons.

5. Precession – how much earth wobbles on its axis.

6. Solar output
About every 11 years the sun goes through a period where it emits more energy than normal through solar flares and electromagnetic storms. During the peak of the “Little Ice Age ( ) the Maunder Minimum was a large dip in solar activity from During that time there was almost no sunspot activity.

7. Other possibilities
At the end of the ice ages a crack in an ice sheet released tons of natural gas causing an abrupt rise in temperature.
There is solid evidence that warming-induced changes in ocean circulation at the end of the last Ice Age caused vast quantities of ancient carbon dioxide to belch from the deep sea into the atmosphere. Scientists believe the carbon dioxide (CO2) releases helped propel the world into further warming.

8. Short Term Climate Change – El Nino
El Nino Animation

9. References http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/edu/k12/.SolarCycles