Global warming isn't just a natural cycle

The earth’s temperature changes naturally over time. Variations in the planet’s orbit, solar cycles, and volcanic eruptions can all cause periods of warming or cooling.

But Kim Cobb, a climate scientist at Georgia Tech, says none of these natural causes can explain the earth’s current warming trend.

Cobb: “What we see clearly is that the rate and the magnitude of current warming really dwarfs anything in this most recent geologic period.”

She says that the current concentration of global warming pollution in the atmosphere is the only factor that explains it.

Read the story by Sara Peach from Yale Climate Connections - “Global warming isn't just a natural cycle.”

Cold temperatures linked to volanic eruptions

R

esearchers find new evidence that large eruptions were responsible for cold temperature extremes recorded since early Roman times.

It is well known that large volcanic eruptions contribute to climate variability. However, quantifying these contributions has proven challenging due to inconsistencies in both historic atmospheric data observed in polar ice cores and corresponding temperature variations seen in climate indicators such as tree rings.

Read the Environmental News Network story - “Ice cores show volcanic eruptions and cold climat strongly linked”.