How does current climate change compare to other dramatic climate events throughout earth’s history?

This is such an interesting question, because of all the different connections between the climate and our behaviour that feedback on each other. The climate is always changing and events like volcano eruptions and heatwaves can impact the climate the climate. Dramatic events can also be socially driven and have an impact on climate, like wars, or COVID-19. That’s because humans are part of the ecosystem and what we do has ripple effects on everything else, especially because there are so many of us now! The world population is over 8 billion people. So how we live, the gases we produce in our transport and food production and the way we change landscapes, removing trees and building large concrete structures can impact the way heat is absorbed and feedback into the climate system.

Although it might not seem as dramatic as a volcano or war, climate change is different to these other types of climate influences, because it is so persistent. It is also getting faster. It’s a bit like falling over compared to rolling down a hill. Collectively, humans add up to a big influence on the gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. The way we live is increasingly fast paced and impactful, so like gathering speed as we roll down the hill, unless we change our lifestyles, our impacts will continue to trend up rather than slow down. By comparison, other dramatic climate events are just a pebble in our path.

For more information, and a cool graph of how the temperature on Earth has changed over millions of years, check out the answer to ‘Why is climate change a problem if climate has constantly changed in the past?’.