Question

Sort the causes of climate change based on whether they act over short-term (tens to hundreds of thousands of years) or long-term (hundreds of millions of years) time scales. Items (6 items) (Drag and drop into the appropriate area below) high albedo from removal of CO2 vast glaciers via chemical large-scale ocean circulation eccentricity of Earth's orbit plate tectonics tilt of Earth's axis weathering processes Categories Short-term Causes Long-term Causes Drag and drop here Drag and drop here

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Answer 1

Climate change is affected by both short-term and long-term factors. Short-term causes include changes in Earth's orbit and axial tilt, while long-term causes involve plate tectonics and weathering processes that have far-reaching impacts on the climate over millions of years.

Step-by-step explanation:

The causes of climate change can be sorted into factors that operate over short-term or long-term time scales. Short-term causes generally refer to factors acting over tens to hundreds of thousands of years, while long-term causes impact climate over hundreds of millions of years.

• Short-term Causes:
  • Eccentricity of Earth's orbit
  • Tilt of Earth's axis
• Long-term Causes:
  • Plate tectonics
  • Weathering processes
  • High albedo from removal of CO2 vast glaciers via chemical large-scale ocean circulation

Factors such as the eccentricity of Earth's orbit and the tilt of its axis represent Milankovitch cycles that influence climate on shorter time scales of tens to hundreds of thousands of years. On the other hand, plate tectonics influence the position of continents and thus affect climate on a time scale of millions of years. The weathering processes and changes in albedo due to large-scale glaciation events also operate over long time scales.