Question:

The 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. Scientists
have long wondered what caused the Little Ice Age. Several possible causes
have been proposed. First, the cooling may have been caused by disrupting of
ocean currents. Before the Little Ice Age, there was a period of unusually warm
weather during which glaciers melted. These melted glaciers sent a large
amount of cold freshwater into the Gulf Stream, a large ocean current that
strongly affects Earth's climate. Some scientists believe that this freshwater
was enough to temporarily disrupt the Gulf Stream. Such a disruption could
have caused the Little Ice Age. Second, a volcanic eruption could have caused
the Little Ice Age. When volcanoes erupt, they send dark clouds of dust and
sulfur gas into the atmosphere. These clouds, which can spread over great
areas, block some sunlight from reaching Earth's surface. This can decrease
global temperatures. Scientists know of several volcanic eruptions that took
place during the Little Ice Age. Third, substantial decreases in human
populations may have contributed indirectly to the cooling of the climate. For
a variety of reasons (disease, warfare, social disruption), the human population
just before the Little Ice Age and during the early part of it was lower than it
had been in a long time. Forest trees started growing on fields that were no
longer used for agriculture. Since trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse
gas, they decrease the greenhouse effect that keeps Earth warm. With more
forest trees carbon dioxide, the earth became cooler.

Answer:
Both the author of the passage and the lecturer are discussing about the little
ice age. The author of the passage mentions three main points for his
argument for the cause of the little ice age. However, the lecturer casts doubt
on all of them, by providing examples and researches to show his concern.

First of all, the author of the passage notes that the disruption of the ocean
current may cause the climate change. He notes that there is an unusual warm
before the ice age, leading the melted icebergs to block the Gulf Stream. In
contrast, the lecturer claims that if this assumption is true, it will only affect the
northern atmosphere. The real thing happening is, the little ice age not only
influenced the northern atmosphere, it also altered the southern atmosphere,
like New Zealand had underwent the little ice age as well.

Secondly, the author claims that the volcanic eruptions that time can also
contribute to the little ice age. By blocking the sky with heavy dark clouds of
dust, the temperature would drop sharply without the radiation
of the sun. The lecturer doubts that if this happens, there will be reports of
dark snow and other visual observations recorded by people. That is, since
there are no known reports of seeing large dark clouds, the effect of volcanic
eruptions was definitely not strong enough to result in a little ice age.

Finally, the author also suggests that the decreases of the human populations
during that period of time might also lead to the ice age event. However, the
lecturer believes that the decrease is not long enough to work. Since the
population had restored quickly, and the need of feeding the increasing
population made the forest decline. More trees were chopped down to
become agricultural lands to farm.

Therefore, the lecturer argues that the evidence in the passage is out of date.
Those ideas no longer support the cause of the little ice age.