Exploring Climate Change

How has the climate changed during Earth’s 4.5 billion year history? (Remember the components of climate…)

67 Responses

  1. the better will carver says:

    well, in dinosaur times it was a hot climate, then came a meteor and made the ice age so then it was cold, and there was snow for a climate like every where, then the ice melted and it was like a tundra for a while, then it became like it is now, mixed climates c:

    • Payton says:

      I’m kinda confused on what you mean. I kinda do then don’t. What do you mean by this? I see what you mean by the dinosaurs and how they died but a lot people know that climate changes made them die. Do you have any other thoughts or do you know how other things change climate?

    • Mikey says:

      I like where your going but I thing you should go more in to detail. Because know it is use that is making the earth different because we are using gas which plots the air and It is killing people and animals.Do you thing this is true if no explain to me why it is not true and if yes it is true add more detail.

  2. Payton says:

    I really don’t know that question. I think it must have change because it’s been a crazy amount of time, 4.5 billion years ago? It must have change some how. I think how it has been changing is cause of us maybe? I think that because a lot has change sense then. Cause now people can change things like our air and some other weather and climate stuff.

  3. Cameron Brown says:

    Well 4.5 billion years ago it was hot and but something changed after there was a meteor that hit earth, and then earth was getting cold then there was and ice age with made it cold and snowing alot but after it was really hot and the ice age melted and it was cold, hot and a little bit of snow once in a while. Now that there is no ice age or anything else it is a mixed climate.

    • rosey says:

      Wow you explained this really well! reading your post really helps me find ways to improve mine. How exactly do you know that the earth was only hot? why couldn’t it have been how the earth is today? Hot in certain areas and cold in other areas?

  4. Kaydon says:

    The Climate of the Earth has changed a lot during its 4.5 billion year history. One Major change in the Earth’s climate is the temperature. An example of that is when a large portion of the world was covered with ice , the ice soon melted or thawed, because of Factors like the rising of sea levels and ocean currents.

    • David says:

      Very clear post Kaydon, I understood what you saying very well, but I decided I wanted to know if the amount of water or precipitation on earth has changed (due to climate change) ? After all, climate is the average temperature and precipitation of an area, not just temperature. So I went a little further into the topic and discovered that the earth has actually lost a quarter of its water, according to this article, https://www.fws.gov/Midwest///Endangered/insects/kbb/kbb_fact.html.
      What I ask you is that do you think the loss of the water is due to climate change?

      • David says:

        Very clear post Kaydon, I understood what you saying very well, but I decided I wanted to know if the amount of water or precipitation on earth has changed (due to climate change) ? After all, climate is the average temperature and precipitation of an area, not just temperature. So I went a little further into the topic and discovered that the earth has actually lost a quarter of its water, according to this article.
        http://sciencenordic.com/earth-has-lost-quarter-its-water
        What I ask you is that do you think the loss of the water is due to climate change?

  5. Rosey says:

    Reasons as to why climate has changed over the billions of years, I’d say has to do with human population mostly because all of our new technology causing pollution for example; Cars, airplanes, factories etc… this has caused climates to get warmer. Other reasons could have to do with the land form billions of years ago, because bodies of water play a huge factor in climate as well as the shape of the landform because of altitude.

    • Payton says:

      God job Rose! I do see what you mean to a point. Like yes I bet a lot of things change cause we came involved and made new things. Do you think if we change the cars and all the stuff that might hurt the climate like change it for the better? Or do you think it’s ok now?

      • rosey says:

        I think changing a lot of our technology would change how the climate is being affected. But its such a long and hard process that it would be really hard to fix whats already been done.

    • rosey says:

      Thanks George! I will Follow up on my post now that I have more information that I didn’t understand or quite know before.

    • george T says:

      Hi rosey I think your close but i think you could’ve added more things that changed the climate. Do you know that asteroid that hit the earth about 65 million years ago, It killed the dinosaurs by the way. Don’t you know that effected the climate also. The ice age happened That effected the climate also.

    • rosey says:

      To follow up on what I said before, Other things that have affected climate over the billions of years would be the ice ages. “There have been at least five significant ice ages in Earth’s history, with approximately a dozen epochs of glacial expansion occurring in the past 1 million years.” sited from: http://www.history.com/topics/ice-age. meaning that climate has been in ice ages more then it has been in not ice age. Which also takes a toll on climate change over the billions of years.

    • Marissa says:

      This is a great post! I can really see and understand what you were thinking, but what I am curious of is how do you think the climate was like 4.5 billion years ago compared to today? (I was reading an article that may be able to help you with this. I’ll leave the website down below) Also, how much do you think all of these components that you listed impacted the Earth? I’m just curious and another thing, how does climate change caused by the shape of the landform because of altitude? I’m pretty confused on that and would just like some clarification, but overall this is an amazing post! https://muchadoaboutclimate.wordpress.com/2013/08/03/4-5-billion-years-of-the-earths-temperature/

  6. Josh says:

    I think that the earth’s climate has change drastically changed in the last 4.5 billion years. I think that one huge change is would be the temp, I mean its been a very long time so it can’t have just stayed the same for the past 4.5 billion years. Also the earth has gone through at least one ice age (from what I know) so that is proof that the earth’s temp has changed.

    • mason says:

      i like where your going with this but i would like to know more about the reasons temperature has changed because you didn’t really mention how the temperature has changed you just said that it has changed. you should basicly just add more detail to your response like how mabye human inhabitance on the earth has changed the earth in any ways.

  7. Will W. says:

    I think during the ice age glaciers were covering Canada and some the U.S.
    Like Minnesota was covered because of the earths tilt, so it must have been way colder then, then now. Also near the equator there wouldn’t be any ice because its always warm there. The earth was also just land so water levels rised, causing land to flood making less land. The ocean might have been smaller or nonexistent back then so it could snow all over the place, and it would be cold too. thats how i think climate has changed.

  8. mason says:

    i am not exactly positive about this but i think it has changed a lot over those 4.5 billion years. one thing might be that during the beginning I’m guessing it was the dinosaur age. it was very hot in the middle of the equator and up north it was still hot just not as hot as by the equator. once came the ice age it was very cold up by present day Bemidji and ice covered the ground and then humans inhabited the earth and things like pollution and global warming melted the ice to create what it is like today which is a mixed climate.

  9. luke says:

    Well climate does change over time because the seasons change and earth is always at a 30* at the sun and it changes weather and climate because we won’t know until we fill something in the climate and there is always something changing in the climates all the time. Witch is really cool because we get to explore new climates in areas and how it is different from are home climate and if climate changes the weather changes with it to. So this is why climate changes around the world so people can explore the new feeling of the climate.

    • Josh says:

      Luke I noticed that you said that you used the seasons to represent climate change and I didn’t see anybody else doing that I think that that really cool, but I was wondering what did you think about climate changing over the years and not just in the seasons. Like what do you think caused global warming and what impact do you think it has on the world?

  10. David says:

    The first question is, how was earth 4.5 billion years ago? I honestly don’t know much about the climates 4.5 billion years ago, but I suspect the climates near the equator were still warm, with a generous amount of precipitation, because the equator gets a lot of sunlight and heat, so I assume the climate didn’t really change near the equator. There was also the ice age, where giant glaciers in the colder climate formed, and eventually melted, when it was really cold, but they eventually melted and I assume it is due to climate change, or warmer climates. I also know that in the recent years there has been a lot of studies and research on climate change, and they discovered that more of Antarctica’s ice is melting, which I am pretty sure is due to climate change. I just wonder how dramatic the change is.

    • will.c says:

      *canceled last one*
      the ice is melting quickly, the climate is getting warmer all over the world, for instance the lakes just now got ice on them, the first snow was just last friday, it is getting warmer in minnesota too! the duck season- it was open all but 3 of the calender days for duck hunting, usually there is snow and ice on the 5th of november! was there any change in climate that you noticed david?

    • Kaydon says:

      David I thought you did a good job and I also had the same idea about the Ice age and Antarctica. I also had the same question about how dramatic was the change of climate in Antarctic. I think I have an idea about how dramatic the change is. Because if what what happened to the ice age, happens to Antarctica, then maybe the ice will melt faster because of human population polluting the air and causing global warming. In this aricle it says that the high ice sheets and the location of Antartica could make it a powerful heat sink that could change the climate of the world not just antarctica http://www.asoc.org/advocacy/climate-change-and-the-antarctic

      • David says:

        Thank you, Kaydon for this information. At least in the article it says that people are trying to prevent climate change in Antarctica, but do you think that the heat sink will happen?

    • Kaid H. says:

      David, I think that your right about Antarctica melting because I did a little research on the subject on the NASA website and found that Antarctica has lost 134 gigaton’s of ice each year since 2002. I also noticed that you started talking about the Ice Age for a bit there, so heres my question to you, just how cold was the Earth, overall, during that time period?

      • David says:

        Hello kaid, I did some research and I found out pretty much everywhere’s average temperature was below 12 degrees.

    • luke says:

      Hay David i notice that you didn’t add anything like ice cores and etc…. from the book i think you should have because it will gives us more information on what happen in the pass so it give us more things to look for.

  11. violet says:

    The reasons why the climate has changed over 4.5 billion years ago is because of the ice age,how close you are to large bodies of water,or how close you are to mountain ranges,and your position on a continent like the coast or the middle of a continent.Another reason for the climate change is people because we build factories,plantations,highways,coal mines.We caused global warming because of the toxics we released into the air and rivers,streams,lakes,gulfs,and bays.

    • Hailey says:

      I like how you explained it. Now I got a Idea what has happened
      4.5 billion years ago and what happened because of global warming..

    • Karlye says:

      Great job Violet! I can tell that you have a ton of knowledge on climate! You have many great points and examples that back up your answer. One thing I was wondering about is how does the way we built factories,plantations,highways, and coal mines affect climate change? It is probably really obvious but I was just a little confused. Overall I fully agree with your response and I think you did a great job.

      • Violet says:

        When we build factories,plantations,highways,and coal mines they release toxic fumes into the air,they fall back down as precipitation and the fish eat the toxics,a bird eats the fish then the bird gets poisoned from the fish which makes their egg shells thin and easier to break open when the bird sits on the eggs which loses the population of that bird’s species which makes that bird become extinct.

  12. mya says:

    climate changed over the years because when there was big bodies of ice ,they eventually thawed because of ocean currents…later became tundra all over then causing mixed weather climates.Now instead of big blocks of ice all over there are things like mountains and plains and now the temperature is different not cold everywhere.

  13. Vinny says:

    I think it has to do with how long its been, because within 4.5 billion years something would have to change. I also think it has to do with the land form from billions of years ago if you think about how the land was billions of years ago.

  14. nick says:

    4.5 billion years ago it was hot until a meteor hit the earth then the ice age has started to create a massive extinction and it was a ice cap there were some surviving animals and a few people but then later on the climate has changed to about half mostly warm but very cold in the winter

  15. Jerricho says:

    over the earths 4.5 million years the temp has slowly risen because of global warming and all of that has to do with climate. most of the change has to do with land forming and with land forming comes mountain ranges and mountain ranges have big effects on the climate it could me hot down below but because of a mountain range it would be colder on the mountain and latitude is what causes the mountains to be cold.

    • Lizzie says:

      Jerricho I agree that temperature has changed over the past 4.5 years. Why do you think its because of global warming?

      • luke says:

        Jerricho i agree that the weather did change over the 4.5 billion years ago i like it that you told us your thought that happen and how it got warmer in places to good job keep it up.

        • Jerricho says:

          thanks I also think yours was good with the hole 30* thing but I think you could have also talked about ice cores but over all good job.

  16. Alera says:

    Sometime on the last 4.5 billion years, there used to be more water than land and more warmer Summers. Now if we have a body of water in our area, but not close to us, it becomes colder faster. But what I don’t really understand is why water makes it seem warmer and not colder since the water is freezing in the Winter?

    • Adam says:

      I don’t exactly know,one thing I can assume though is that water would make it colder,but apparently I’m wrong.So i feel where you are coming from not knowing.

  17. Marissa says:

    4.5 million years is a very long time. Many components have occurred that could’ve changed climate in areas. 4.5 million years ago the ice age was happening, certain species of animals weren’t extinct, and people weren’t around messing things up with global warming. All of it effects things that you might not realize. Even not recycling can change things. Think about the things that you do that you might not realize. I’m not trying to blame anyone because I’m just as guilty, but what are some things that you could do to help our planet?

  18. KAid says:

    I think it has changed dramatically mainly because of the Ice Age where everything got a lot more colder than they already were. Kind of like how Antarctica used to support flesh eating dinosaurs, which means it used to be warmer and had a steady supply of food for it. But I have one question. How warm would it have to be to support a dinosaur like that?

    • luke says:

      Kaid i like it that you added something from the book like the fossils from antarctica but i think you could have put the ice cones two because antarctica is made out of ice and land so its a good place to do that but other wise you did good.

  19. Hailey says:

    I think it has to do with the Ice age because it had gotten a lot colder which all
    the animals got extinct. And 4.5 billion years ago climate changed because
    the ice age.

    • kenyon says:

      hailey i think that too but one of the main reasons is pollution causing global warming are you saying its gotten colder or warmer?

  20. Lizzie says:

    The temperature has changed a lot in the past billion years. I know this because a 8500 year old fossil of a warm water mollusks was found on the coast of Greenland. This shows that Greenland was warm once and not cold.

  21. Karlye says:

    I dont know very much, or really anything about the climate 4.5 billion years ago but I do understand that in order for dinosaurs to survive, it would have had to be warmer than the climate today (probably between 40 and 80 degrees). So the climate has changed quite dramatically considering here in Bemidji MN the weather gets below 0 degrees. Something I am curious about is was the climate the same all over the world? Or was it similar to today where it varies everywhere you go?

    • Anna says:

      You did well over all but I am pretty confused, when you say in between 40 and 80 degrees. Do you mean the past climate or the climate now, because in the summer we get up to 80 degrees sometimes, could you please elaborate? Although I do understand what you are confused about on how the climate was the same or different worldwide in the past. I believe that it is similar to having different climates today all over the world, but I also believe that some climates were similar in areas.

      • Karlye says:

        To answer your question Anna, what I meant by 40 to 80 degrees is that It would probably have to stay in between the temperatures year round.

  22. Anna says:

    I don’t know much about the climate 4.5 billion years ago, but I know that in dinosaur time it would have had to be warmer so their food could grow. The plants and trees would have still had to have precipitation to live and grow but wouldn’t it be warmer? On https://muchadoaboutclimate.wordpress.com/2013/08/03/4-5-billion-years-of-the-earths-temperature/ it states that earths surface would have been covered in molten lava. But how would dinosaurs live there? This doesn’t quite make sense to me but then again a lot of stuff doesn’t because I’m still learning. I do believe there was lava but I also believe that it didn’t cover the whole earth , then how would animals survive? So I believe that compared to now if was a lot warmer compared to now. I mainly believe that if you look at ice cores and tree rings that they together will tell you a lot about how climate has changed overtime.

  23. Mikey says:

    In 4.5 billion years the Climate of the Earth has changed a lot. One Major change in the Earth’s climate is the temperature has warmed up a lot because the earth used to be full of ice but it all melted when people started driving cars,planes,and ect. Now sense there is a lot of pollution the ice is going get worse and it is going to get warmer.

  24. Adam says:

    Well if it has been 4.5 million years, something is bound to change.I think the thing that changed the most was temperature.It has been so long that something drastic had to have happened,and something did it is called the ice age.

    • mason says:

      your starting good but what i would do is add onto it like why did the ice age melt away and what caused it like did the humans do anything to cause it or did global warming take over the earth. maeby polution had an effect in it like it could have some how warmed the planet to just the right temperature.

  25. kenyon says:

    i believe that climate has changed a lot because of human activity and pollution with big factories and humans with cars and smoke (cigarettes) that over all has a huge impacked on the earth. even just the lets of people smoking can have a huge impacked over all when it continues to add up. people throwing cigarettes plastic cans into lakes hurts the earth. its changing the climate quiet a bit because of the pollution thats why ice is melting in the arctics and so are the icecaps.
    thats why ice is melting in the arctics and so are the icecaps. it use to be colder 4.5 billion years ago because there wasnt much human activity to no activity so there was no smoke or pollution or waste.
    http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

  26. Priscilla says:

    If you look at the components of climate like tree rings, ice caps, cave paintings, or fossils you can identify how the climate has changed. I think the climate maybe kept warming up then cooling and continued doing that. But overall I think it was warmer because most of the fossils that were found require a warmer climate.

  27. natalie says:

    4.5 million years ago i think it was colder but it was warm in other areas. the reason think this is because in the books and movies you watch it seems to be almost looking like its warm. There use to be a lot of ice in the anrtic but now they have slowly are melting away.

  28. Mya L. says:

    I think the climate 4.5 million years ago was much colder with less precipitation because of the location of land and the ice age.

  29. Bodi says:

    Well I think the original climate of the earth 4.5 billion years was probably humid and very warm. But i think the reason the earth is very different today is because the earth froze which would affect our oceans back then and while the earth was slowly thawing out it began to grow plants again and the animals that survived the ice started to repopulate the earth.

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