Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________ Science Natural Causes of Climate Change Directions: Follow the directions below to complete the activity. I. Introduction Humans have only been on Earth for 200,000 to 300,000 years. Humans only started to produce excess greenhouse gases during the Industrial Revolution, which started approximately 250 years ago, but data and evidence have proven that Earth’s climate has changed. Prior to the existence of humans, natural sources caused climate change. These sources include variations in sunlight due to Earth’s orbit, as well as increases and decreases in solar energy due to changes in the sun’s activity. Volcanic eruptions have also had an impact on Earth’s climate. II. Ice Ages Conduct research to answer the questions below. Make sure to answer each question with complete sentences. Reference all of your sources in section provided below. 1. What is an ice age? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. How many ice ages have occurred on Earth since its formation? When did the ice ages occur? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 3. How do scientists know that these ice ages occurred? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. What is an interglacial period? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 5. What do scientists think caused the ice ages? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2019 © Lincoln Learning Solutions. All rights reserved. Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________ Science Natural Causes of Climate Change Directions: Follow the directions below to complete the activity. 6. What was the average temperature on Earth during the ice ages? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ References: III. The Most Recent Ice Age The most recent ice age ended approximately 11,700 years ago. Pretend that you are a news reporter reporting on this ice age. In order to do so, you must research the last ice age and create a summary of what you find. Write your response as if it were a news article, making sure to include a title. You will need to include the following information: • When did the last ice age occur? • What caused it? • What areas were covered in ice? • What species lived during this period? • What happened after the ice age ended? References: Copyright 2019 © Lincoln Learning Solutions. All rights reserved.
