Abrupt climate change

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/abrupt-climate-change

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the rate of system response?The climate system transitions at a rate faster than the external forcing
2. What is the historical examples?Includes the Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse, Younger Dryas, Dansgaard–Oeschger events, and Heinrich events
3. How fast can abrupt climate change happen?It can happen in just a few decades, which is much faster than the slow changes that usually take many centuries or millennia.
4. What are some examples of past abrupt climate change events?Scientists have found evidence of events like the Younger Dryas, Dansgaard–Oeschger, Heinrich, the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, and even the Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse that show the planet can shift quickly.

External Forcing: Factors outside the climate system, like solar radiation or volcanic eruptions, that influence climate.
Paleoclimatology: The study of past climates using evidence from natural archives like ice cores and sediments.
Anthropogenic Forcing: Climate changes caused by human activities, such as the emission of greenhouse gases.