Introduction
Climate changes remain one of the key topics in ecology. The natural environment of the planet presents a system of interacting processes. Therefore, even those climate changes that seem to be minor can have a significant impact on people, flora, and fauna in different regions of the planet. Large-scale patterns of climatic variations are related to the impact of solar energy, the circulation of the atmosphere, greenhouse gases, and surface temperature.
Analysis
Large-scale patterns of climatic variations include the most important factors that are responsible for climate change. There are two major types of climatic variations that impact the lives of people all over the world. First, climatic variations can be attributed to the impact of natural reasons. The number of natural forcings that exist on their own and, therefore, cannot be controlled by humanity include the temperature and the luminosity of the Sun. The latter impact the temperature of our planet’s surface and cause the deglaciation of numerous areas. At the same time, changes related to the physical properties of the Sun can cause increased volcanic activity in numerous regions. In its turn, increased volcanic activity has an impact on the composition of the atmosphere of the planet (Menard et al. 51). These changes usually have a negative impact on climate as they decrease the amount of the Sun’s heat that contacts with the Earth.
Global climatic variations can also be attributed to the activity of humanity; for instance, natural gas extraction and processing can contribute to climate changes, causing the degradation of air quality. In addition, many industries developed by humanity contribute to large-scale climate changes. The impact of industrial gases on the atmosphere of the planet is among the factors that cause global warming. Global warming is usually associated with the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The effects of global warming on climate and the life of people are numerous as it is related to increases in the global mean sea level (Hansen et al. 3761). Speaking about other climatic effects of global warming, it is pivotal to note that it can change the average precipitation in different parts of the world due to the fact that warming increases the amount of moisture in the air (Lehmann et al. 501). The effects of global warming on climate are especially important when it comes to the polar regions of the planet – increases in mean temperature and massive deglaciation decrease the chances of North Polar animals to survive. Due to that, gradual climatic changes also have a bearing on the biological diversity of the planet.
When it comes to the large-scale patterns of climate variations, the attention is to be paid to the role of the movement of air that helps to distribute the heat on the surface of the planet. The circulation of air can contribute to temperature changes in different regions of our planet. The changes in the Earth’s climate greatly depend upon its interaction with other objects in the universe such as the Sun, and this rule is also manifested in the circulation of the atmosphere. In fact, the impact of solar energy is regarded as the key driver of atmospheric circulation. The specific position of the planet in relation to the Sun acts as the reason why different regions of the planet do not get the same amount of solar energy, and this difference causes the occurrence of air streams that aim to reduce the imbalance and, therefore, cause climate changes.
Works Cited
Hansen, James, et al. “Ice Melt, Sea Level Rise and Superstorms: Evidence from Paleoclimate Data, Climate Modeling, and Modern Observations that 2 C Global Warming Could be Dangerous.” Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 16, no. 6, 2016, pp. 3761-3812.
Lehmann, Jascha, et al. “Increased Record-Breaking Precipitation Events Under Global Warming.” Climatic Change, vol. 132, no. 4, 2015, pp. 501-515.
Menard, Gabrielle, et al. “Gas and Aerosol Emissions from Lascar Volcano (Northern Chile): Insights into the Origin of Gases and Their Links With the Volcanic Activity.” Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, vol. 287, 2014, pp. 51-67.