In this week’s readings, you have examined different factors, such as the distribution of the continents, oceanic circulation patterns, and variations in the Earth’s orbit, that have affected global climate change in the past. As you look to the future, think about these factors that have affected global climate in the past and consider how they could affect climate in the future.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review Chapter 16 of the course text, “Earth’s Climate System” (pp. 446–479), paying extra attention to Section 16.6 “Natural Causes of Climate Change” (pp. 476–479).
• Review the websites and animations for this week that are listed in the Learning Resources.
• Reflect on what you have learned throughout this course and consider which Earth science topic you might be most interested in continuing to follow. Do you think that you will listen to news reports about any of these topics with a different, more informed, level of interest?
• Finally, as a result of what you have learned in this course, think about one action item you would consider doing that is critical to helping with the Earth’s preservation, locally or in general.

For this Discussion, your Instructor will either assign groups to threads or direct you to choose one thread from the choices listed this week.

If you are directed to choose a thread on your own, follow these instructions: Each thread is limited to a maximum number of students, based on class size. A thread will close if the limit is reached. If a thread is closed to new posters, select from the open threads. You will post both your initial post and your response post in the same thread.

By Day 3

Post two paragraphs predicting the top two most likely global climate change scenarios over the next 1,000 years, based on your evaluation of the causes of global climate change. Focus on one human-made cause and one natural cause. Justify your predictions with references to Chapter 16 of the course text. Then, share two key learnings from this course related to your Discussion thread topic and explain why they are important. Finally, describe one action item you might pursue to help with the Earth’s preservation and why.

Thread 1: Astronomy and the Solar System