When is the next ice age due?

Answer 1

JUDGING BY THE LOOK ON MY GIRLFRIEND'S FACE very soon

Answer 2

Geologically speaking the next glacial period is around the corner. Currently the Earth is in a warm interglacial period, the Holocene, which has lasted approximately 10 to 12 thousand years.

Curiously the global temperature today is actually cooler than shortly after the last glaciation ended, something the climatalogists occasionally forget to tell us.

However, the climate is in a delicate balance. All it would take to tip the balance from the current state back to that of the previous glaciation is a minor change. The Gulf Stream, which keeps Europe much warmer for its latitude than it should be, is slowing down. If this weakens further this could kick start an ice age. As could two or more major volcanic eruptions (like Mt Pinatubo) throwing enough dust and liquid droplets (aerosols) into the atmosphere cutting incoming solar radiation and cooling the planet. Even the melting of the northern polar ice could actually cause the ice age by disrupting the ocean currents. Of course the climate could go the opposite way and go runaway greenhouse and we all cook!

No one knows for sure when the next ice age will happen. It could be next year or next centuary or even a thosand years from now but it will happen again and on a regular basis until the continents shift position again.

The story maybe a little far fetched but the scientific principles in Day After Tomorrow are sound enough. And yes it is paradoxical that global warming could cause the next ice age. All it is is the Earth cooling off the only way it knows how to.

Mankind survived the last ice age, we are adaptable and inventive so I'm pretty sure mankind will survive the next one.

Answer 3

Hard to say for sure. There are any number of factors that once started, could begin a cascade of events that lead to drops in global temperatures, shifts in ocean currents and the like that lead to an ice age.

It's quite possible that we are overdue for an ice age, and it is the effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions that have resulted in global warming and climate change instead of the ice age that might have otherwise formed.

It's also possible that the increasing global temperatures may actually trigger another ice age. It sounds odd, but it is a very real possibility. Warming could create shifts in ocean currents, particularly the Gulf Stream that carries warm waters from the Gulf of Mexico north the the area of Newfoundland and across the northern Atlantic to Great Britain. Without the Gulf Stream, temperatures in the north Atlantic could plummet, expanding the Arctic ice cap and sending glaciers down through Canada.

That's why most climatologists prefer to talk of global climate change rather than global warming. Climate and weather is such a chaotic, interwoven tapestry of cause and effect that it is difficult to predict which way it will go.

It's like watching a top wobble. You know it's going to fall over soon, but you don't know exactly when, or which way it's going to fall. Meanwhile someone is blowing on the top. Someone claims that it is their blowing that is causing the top to wobble. The blower claims that it was already wobbling when he started to blow, and his gases have no effect on the top, so he refuses to stop. Pretty much all we can do at this point is hope the top doesn't go careening off and smash the good china, and hope we can get it started again when it does eventually go kablooie.

Answer 4

shall we've a minor ice age in the subsequent 500 years. possibilities of a small asteroid ( meteor precise) inflicting considerable cloud coverage is particularly available. we would see ice sheets as far down as Canada. this could final in trouble-free terms some a protracted time. solar activity could replace additionally inflicting an instantaneous chilly snap lasting 50 years or longer. a considerable ice age may well be one thousand's of years away.

Answer 5

Next Wednesday at 4:42 pm sharp

Answer 6

Ice age 2 is out in cinemas..soon on DVD, probably begining of October

Answer 7

What you mean ice age 2:The Meltdown...should be out soon on dvd. Looks a really good film !

Answer 8

2 Milion years

Answer 9

I remember reading it in the newspapers in UK that it had already started, this was in approximately November 1982. But then I think global warming stopped it.

Answer 10

its on its way don`t know when but its happened before don`t worry about it we`ll get plenty of time to prepare it`s like a dripping tap filling a bath

Answer 11

next week. 6:31 pm wednesday.