If we are all here in 2500 or 5000 years I am sure they will say humans are causing the glaciers to swallow NYC.
BTW, has the temps even gotten as high as they were in 1000 A.D. when the Vikings settled in Greenland?
2007-09-24 06:36:11 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Environment ➔ Global Warming
This is not one of the earth's warm periods, it is an interglacial - a bit of relief from the worst of the ice age. How warm should that be? We don't really know.
For the last 3 billion years or so, the earth has "liked" to be either 12C or 22C. It does not "like" to be in between, so it passes more rapidly through those temperatures. Today the earth is around 16C. Based upon historic data, we cannot expect the temperature to remain as it is.
The "medievil warm period" when the vikings settled Greenland was probably a bit warmer than today. The CO2Science website references many studies that support this.
The temperatures have been much higher than the .medievil warm period. For example, the dinosaurs thrived when the earth's temperature was 22C for nearly 200 million years. That was a time of great biodiversity and immense biomass. It was 6C hotter than today and not at all a global extinction event.
2007-09-24 08:42:17 · answer #1 · answered by G_U_C 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Actually... we are about 1500+ years OVERDUE for an ice age. Based on the timelines between the other 6 ice ages, we are definately overdue.
But due to the global warming effects caused by the human race, and other ecological factors (all having to do with the human race) i honestly doubt we will have another ice age. Unless, there is some sort of cataclysmic event (Supervolcano erruption, meteor hit, etc). But that situation doesnt matter, because before the earth froze over, the human race would die in a nuclear winter.
2007-09-24 13:47:23 · answer #2 · answered by loki_only1 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes we are.. according to TIME Magazine on their last edition with the topic of Global Warming, the earth is getting hotter everyday. Due to gases and fumes the suns xray cames in easier but does not leave the atmosphere keeping all the hot air on the earth like a ballon.
The Glaciers in Alaska and the Eastern Russia area(Siberia) melts a average PER WEEK of what the city of Los Angeles would use 5 times what they used this last year. That was looked at only one spot of the Glaciers, now imagen over all the glaciers around the world..
idk the name but in London, En they have one of the longest water detention walls of the world.. they lift the water gateways during the ocean high rises so certain cities wont get flooded. the way the human race is not caring for the enviroment by coal plants, illegal disposal of batteries and lamps, toxics, paint and other chemicals, smoking cars, oil plants, desktops that are left turned on over night, the cutting of trees and not replanting them and the killing of forest.. within some years that detention wall will no longer be in need due to high level of the ocean.. well let me rephrase, it will be in need, but that certain wall wont do its job anymore.
so yea.. idk about the ice age thing but the earth is defi getting hotter everyday!
2007-09-24 14:11:24 · answer #3 · answered by myownworkchief 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well of course the earth is warmer than it was during the Ice Ages, and that would be true regardless of whether we are doing anything to heat it up even more. But what does that have to do with whether or not human activities are causing even more warming?
2007-09-24 14:00:34 · answer #4 · answered by rollo_tomassi423 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The iceage cycle is way too complex to micromanage even in models let alone the real world. The way it works is not understood at this time and not much is being done to know how the iceage will return-but it will at some time in the future.
2007-09-24 16:13:53 · answer #5 · answered by jim m 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We're NOT to blame for "global warming"; by itself a natural process--but we're surely accelerating it's progress. Global warming didn't just suddenly happen upon us--it has gotten noticeable over the past 40 years that environmental climate changes are occurring.
We're a technologically far more advanced society today than so 200 years ago--and we gain evolutionary progress in that facet each day. Now, we need to use such environmental technological discoveries in bold steps to per serve our climate, possibly reversing temps to where they were 100 or so years ago.
An ice age isn't expected to hit for the next 2000 or so years--hopes are by then, our society will find ways to control Mother Nature's will--and keep safe our planet for human existence.
2007-09-24 14:04:45 · answer #6 · answered by Mr. Wizard 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋
To the first question, the answer is no.
"An often-cited 1980 study by Imbrie and Imbrie determined that "Ignoring anthropogenic and other possible sources of variation acting at frequencies higher than one cycle per 19,000 years, this model predicts that the long-term cooling trend which began some 6,000 years ago will continue for the next 23,000 years."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles
To the second question, the answer is yes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png
2007-09-24 13:59:49 · answer #7 · answered by Dana1981 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
We were in a period of steady climate for thousands of years. Many scientists attribute the rise of civilization to that.
The Medieval Warm Period was not as warm as today. Also it was a gradual increase compared to what's going on today. Ten peer reviewed studies:
http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Image:2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison_png
More details:
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/climate-change/dn11644
Sure it was warmer in the past. And coastlines were very different. Our modern society, with massive coastal development and intensive agriculture, is very sensitive to climate change. We're not hunter-gatherers who can just pick up and move. More details:
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/climate-change/dn11647
Bottom line: Climatologists are well aware of the history. And still:
"There's a better scientific consensus on this [climate change] than on any issue I know... Global warming is almost a no-brainer at this point. You really can't find intelligent, quantitative arguments to make it go away."
Dr. Jerry Mahlman, NOAA
Good websites for more info:
http://profend.com/global-warming/
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/
http://www.realclimate.org
"climate science from climate scientists"
2007-09-24 15:53:53 · answer #8 · answered by Bob 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
The climate always changes. The climate is never static.
We're either warming or cooling. Both are natural and we shouldn't get too worked up over it.
Man is far to small to effect something as huge as the climate.
2007-09-24 13:50:03 · answer #9 · answered by Dr Jello 7 · 4⤊ 5⤋