Tpo27-Integrated writing

The reading claims that there are three possible causes of the little ice age and provides a reason of support to each. However, the professor says that unfortunately the arguments of the reading passage are out of date and none of the ideas that the reading passage discusses could account for the little ice age.

First, the passage states that the cooling may have been caused by disruption of the gulf’s stream. In contrast the professor explains that the scientists now a days know that disruption gulf’s stream would cause cooling only in Europe and North America. But, the little ice age also affected southern hemisphere like Sothern Africa and New Zealand. Since, the disruption of Gulf’s stream could not explain why such areas became colder it cannot explain the little age.

Second, the reading claims that the volcanic eruption could have caused the little ice age. The professor counters this point by stating that it is true when volcanoes erupt gas into atmosphere, the result can be a cooler climate, but large amount of volcanic dust in atmosphere could cause striking visual effect that people could not notice that. For example, colorful sun set or the snow being grey or brown color instead of white, but there is no report about things happened like that during the little ice age.

Third, the author posits that the human populations may have contributed indirectly to the cooling of climate. For example, forest trees started growing on fields and they decrease the greenhouse effect that keeps Earth warm. The professor refutes this point by saying that the human population act very quickly by cutting down the trees and clear the fields for the crops needed to feed the growing population. Therefore, the trees that mentioned in the reading passage are not enough to cause the global cooling of the climate.