TPO 27The little ice age was a period of unusually cold temperature in many parts of the world that lasted from about the year 1350 until 1900CE There were unusually harsh winters and glaciers grew larger in many areas Scientist have long wondered what

The reading and the lecture are both about what caused the little ice age. The author of the reading feels that there are several logical reasons that can explain what caused the little ice age, while the lecturer refutes it.
To begin with, the author argues that there is a possibility that the change of current of the Gulf stream is one of the reasons. The article mentions that the Gulf stream has been affected by a large amount of water that is from a massive glacier that changed the Gulf stream’s current. Due to this, the climate was changed, and the little ice age started. This specific argument is challenged by the lecturer. He claims that the Gulf stream flows from Europe to North America. However, the other regions, such as New Zealand and Africa, which are located in the Southern hemisphere, also had been affected by the little ice age. Hence, the insisting of the author cannot be a logical reason to explain this.
Secondly, the writer suggests that another reason is volcanic eruption. There had been an eruption of a volcano, and the dark clouds were produced. It blocks the sunlight from the sky. Therefore, it occurred the decline of global temperature. The lecturer, however, rebuts this by mentioning that if there was really a volcanic eruption, people would notice it through visual effect. However, there is no report that an eruption had occurred in that time. So it cannot be explained enough as the cause of the little ice age.
Lastly, the author posits that decrease in human population can be one of the reasons. Since many reasons such as disease, disaster, the human population has lessened. Through this, the amount of trees had been increased and it removed the greenhouse gas, which made the Earth warm. In contrast, the lecturer’s position is that the pace of growing human population is usually faster than the growing forest. So, the human population would have increased fast. Therefore, it cannot be the logical reasons that decrease in human population cause the little ice age