The Little Ice Age

The Little Ice Age was essentially a negative feedback loop. With reduced temperature and strong winds, there was a lot of precipitation in the form of snow. The snow helped to reflect the sunlight out of the Earth, adding to the cooling effect of the Ice Age. Furthermore, since there was a reduced amount of solar radiation during the period, the expanding glaciers were also able to further reflect out any radiation, leading to the initial decreasing in temperature as seen in negative feedback loops. However, towards the end of the Little Ice Age in the mid 1800’s, there was more radiation entering the atmosphere due to the new change in orbit and rotation of the Earth. This caused the albedo effect, where the radiation melted the snow off of the glaciers, whihc led to an increase in ocean levels,, which then absorbed more heat because of their darker color melting the glaciers. This created a positive feedback loop, once again changing the climate of the Earth.
The end of the Little Ice Age signaled the start of the current warm period. The change in orbit and rotation of the Earth allowed more solar radiation to enter the Earth’s atmosphere, heating it up and melting the large …show more content…
Eventually fossil fuels will run out, which will decrease the amount of heat trapping aerosols in the atmosphere, reducing the temperature of the Earth. Furthermore, the excess carbon dioxide produced form the industrial processes will dissolve into the ocean or get trapped by the creation of carbonate minerals. Once that happens, with the correct orbit and rotation, the snow in the highlands will preserved all year long, affecting regions all around the world and leading to another Ice Age (Hadley,