Carbon emissions 'postpone ice age'

Geology, Geophysics, Oceanography, Meteorology etc.

Moderators: kiore, Blip, The_Metatron

Carbon emissions 'postpone ice age'

#1  Postby DougC » Jan 14, 2016 4:05 am

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35307800

B.B.C. Article

The next ice age may have been delayed by over 50,000 years because of the greenhouse gases put in the atmosphere by humans, scientists in Germany say.
They analysed the trigger conditions for a glaciation, like the one that gripped Earth over 12,000 years ago.
The shape of the planet's orbit around the Sun would be conducive now, they find, but the amount of carbon dioxide currently in the air is far too high.
Earth is set for a prolonged warm phase, they tell the journal Nature.
"In theory, the next ice age could be even further into the future, but there is no real practical importance in discussing whether it starts in 50,000 or 100,000 years from now," Andrey Ganopolski from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said.
"The important thing is that it is an illustration that we have a geological power now. We can change the natural sequence of events for tens of thousands of years," he told BBC News.
Earth has been through a cycle of ice ages and warm periods over the past 2.5 million years, referred to as the Quaternary Period.
This has seen ice sheets come and go. At its maximum extent, the last glaciation witnessed a big freeze spread over much of North America, northern Europe, Russia and Asia.

(Continues)
To do, is to be (Socrate)
To be, is to do (Sartre)
Do be do be do (Sinatra)
SUBWAY(1985)
DougC
THREAD STARTER
 
Posts: 14920
Age: 51
Male

Country: UNITED Kingdom
United Kingdom (uk)
Print view this post

Re: Carbon emissions 'postpone ice age'

#2  Postby mcgruff » Jan 16, 2016 6:22 am

In fact we're already in an ice age which cycles between warmer (interglacial) and colder (glacial) periods. It's the next orbitally-forced glacial period which has been postponed rather than another ice age.
User avatar
mcgruff
 
Posts: 3614
Male

Scotland (ss)
Print view this post

Re: Carbon emissions 'postpone ice age'

#3  Postby Zadocfish2 » Jan 16, 2016 6:25 am

So we've successfully punched Old Man Winter in the nuts.

I wonder if that'll come back to bite us later.
User formerly known as Falconjudge.

I am a Christian.
User avatar
Zadocfish2
 
Name: Justin
Posts: 608
Age: 32
Male

Country: USA
United States (us)
Print view this post

Re: Carbon emissions 'postpone ice age'

#4  Postby mcgruff » Jan 16, 2016 6:06 pm

Setting the house on fire might have the side effect of keeping the winter chill at bay but, well, FIRE!
User avatar
mcgruff
 
Posts: 3614
Male

Scotland (ss)
Print view this post

Re: Carbon emissions 'postpone ice age'

#5  Postby SafeAsMilk » Jan 16, 2016 6:41 pm

Zadocfish2 wrote:So we've successfully punched Old Man Winter in the nuts.

I wonder if that'll come back to bite us later.

Probably. Old Man Winter doesn't like being punched in the nuts.
"They call it the American dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it." -- George Carlin
User avatar
SafeAsMilk
 
Name: Makes Fails
Posts: 14774
Age: 44
Male

United States (us)
Print view this post

Re: Carbon emissions 'postpone ice age'

#6  Postby Alan B » Jan 17, 2016 4:37 pm

Meanwhile islands will disappear and coastlines will change. The present geography will become the stuff of legend. The human race will be impoverished since the finite resources will have long gone.
Sent from my PSP5508DUO using Tapatalk
Edit: And the future mythicists will talk of today as the 'Golden Age' and the 'Age of Plenty' where people actually lived on land in the middle of the oceans.
Last edited by Alan B on Jan 17, 2016 6:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I have NO BELIEF in the existence of a God or gods. I do not have to offer evidence nor do I have to determine absence of evidence because I do not ASSERT that a God does or does not or gods do or do not exist.
User avatar
Alan B
 
Posts: 9999
Age: 87
Male

Country: UK (Birmingham)
United Kingdom (uk)
Print view this post

Re: Carbon emissions 'postpone ice age'

#7  Postby Macdoc » Jan 17, 2016 4:55 pm

The human race will be impoverished since the finite resources will have long gone.


You might be surprised at that ....with lots of energy there is almost nothing that is "finite" in human scale time frame even with current technology.
However that is a different topic than this one.

Rebuilding coastal communities will be a huge economic boost.
Travel photos > https://500px.com/macdoc/galleries
EO Wilson in On Human Nature wrote:
We are not compelled to believe in biological uniformity in order to affirm human freedom and dignity.
User avatar
Macdoc
 
Posts: 17714
Age: 76
Male

Country: Canada/Australia
Australia (au)
Print view this post


Return to Earth Sciences

Who is online

Users viewing this topic: No registered users and 1 guest