Glacial/Interglacial Periods and Volcanic Eruptions

more glaciers = lower sea level * water that makes snow and eventually glaciers come from oceans * example: * 7.6 million miles of glaciers exist today → 230 foot rise in sea level if all of it melted
Ice Age was 20,000 years ago * 3 times the amount of ice that is present today * sea level is 460 feet lower than it is today

flood basalts = largest eruptions on Earth
erupts huge amount of lava over a “brief” )geologically speaking) time period
bury large areas in lava
gases emitted into the atmosphere * SO2 causes global cooling * CO2 causes global warming (longer term)
ocean also absorb a lot of gases * change acidity and oxygen concentration
example: * Siberian traps = 800,000 miles of lava covering 1.5 million miles in Siberia * coincides with the Permo-Triassic extinction (a major mass extinction)

Earth is constantly being bombarded with asteroids and (to a lesser extent) comets
a meteoroid with a diameter of 6 miles could cause wildfires, acid rain, tsunami, and a dust cloud that could block out the sun for weeks to months