ESCI 240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Sea Level Rise, Sulfur Dioxide, Nature Climate Change
Document Summary
The science of climate change: name two natural causes of climate change and explain how they work to change the climate. Volcanic eruptions and sunspots are two natural factors contributing to climate change. Eruptions from volcanoes release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, which contributes to atmospheric warming. As well as sending ash, dust, and sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, volcanic eruptions also produce powerful winds that spread the particles across the globe. "aerosols" of sulphuric acid are formed when carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water combine. Such particles reflect sunlight and accelerate the formation of clouds. A major eruption usually causes a cooling effect greater than the warming effect of carbon dioxide, resulting in a cooling that can last for almost two years afterward (pidcock, 2014). In accordance with the epa, sunspots are raising global temperatures. A sunspot limits the flow of solar plasma, which in turn emits radiation. Powerful and unstoppable, sunspots and solar flares are unavoidable.
