Climate Change

The Earth is the only planet, which we presently know of, that has water in all three physical states; liquid, solid, and gas. The balancing act that takes place between the three states is a delicate one and any global change in temperature will alter the balance among the different forms (Hidore and Oliver, 2002). Through the examination of glaciation, ice melt, atmospheric warming, and the breakdown of the Thermohaline Circulation, a direct relationship between Global Warming and its adverse effect to the Earth will be proven.

This paper proposes that the breakdown of the thermohaline circulation will have a direct relationship between global warming and its adverse effect to the earth. I will argue that the breakdown is called by glaciation, ice melt, and atmospheric warming all related to global warming.

Global Warming: Natural and Anthropocentric Causes

Historically, Paleoclimatic indicators have shown that global temperatures have followed a cycle of fairly regular, long-term and short-term variations (Environment Canada, 2003). These variations in temperature have been attributed to the Milankovitch Cycles. Milankovitch cycles have three different cycles. They are the observed differences in the Earth’s eccentricity or degree of ellipticity of the orbit around the Sun, the variance in the Earth’s angle of tilt or obliquity around its rotation axis and lastly, the Earth’s precession or wobble around its axis of rotation. These cycles cause periodic variations in the amount of heat the Earth receives from the Sun. Extreme low temperatures have corresponded with periods of glaciation, which have a connection with the process of orbital eccentricity and occur on a 100,000 year cycle. Periods of warmer temperatures or interglacials show comparison in time for the change in obliquity and precession, about 20,000 to 40,000 years (EC, 2003). However, beginning in the late 18th century, corresponding to the Industrial Revolution, the natural cycles of...