NationStates Jolt Archive

This graph I found in the wikipedia article on ice ages intrigues me:
(note: time is right to left, a bit counterintuitive)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Vostok-ice-core-petit.png

Are people in the future ice age going to be mad at us for stopping global warming?

The point is that global warming might lead to an ice age.

That's why it's GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE.

The point is that global warming might lead to an ice age.

That's why it's GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE.

Maybe Global Warming can prevent it. Perhaps human CO2 emissions are altering the natural tendency for Earth's climate to plunge into the depths of frozen hell and the minute we stop releasing mountains of carbon into the atmosphere, the natural cycle will catch up to us and we'll all die cold and ironic deaths.

Maybe Global Warming can prevent it. Perhaps human CO2 emissions are altering the natural tendency for Earth's climate to plunge into the depths of frozen hell and the minute we stop releasing mountains of carbon into the atmosphere, the natural cycle will catch up to us and we'll all die cold and ironic deaths.


Probably not. My guess is we'll first have an unnatural hot global average climate, and then there will be an ice age anyway. It's amusing to think about what those living in that ice age would think of our attempts to prevent an increase in temperature.

Maybe Global Warming can prevent it. Perhaps human CO2 emissions are altering the natural tendency for Earth's climate to plunge into the depths of frozen hell and the minute we stop releasing mountains of carbon into the atmosphere, the natural cycle will catch up to us and we'll all die cold and ironic deaths.

If only. In fact, global warming just screws up the climate, so some places will be glacial and others will be deserts. Preferably, these places would be right next to each other, cause that would look awesome.

Maybe Global Warming can prevent it. Perhaps human CO2 emissions are altering the natural tendency for Earth's climate to plunge into the depths of frozen hell and the minute we stop releasing mountains of carbon into the atmosphere, the natural cycle will catch up to us and we'll all die cold and ironic deaths.

That is pretty ironic...

This graph I found in the wikipedia article on ice ages intrigues me:
(note: time is right to left, a bit counterintuitive)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Vostok-ice-core-petit.png

Are people in the future ice age going to be mad at us for stopping global warming?
no they arent because its highly unlikely that we are going to do anything constructive in stopping global warming.

Consider that CO2 is currently at a global average of 387 ppm, according to wiki. That's a bigger difference between the current concentration and previous highest concentration than between the highest and lowest concentration of the last 400 thousand years (~100 ppm compared to ~80ppm). And don't forget that the current CO2 concentration is increasing all the time and scientist predict that it is only going to start rising faster as all the Earth's natural CO2 sinks become saturated (like the oceans -- and acidic oceans present their own problems).

Are people in the future ice age going to be mad at us for stopping global warming?

work i've seen puts the start of the next ice age at 50k years from now, even assuming we quickly drop CO2 back to pre-industrial levels, and farther out if we don't. something to do with low eccentricity in earth's orbit. i think we'll have it covered by then.


for example:
"An Exceptionally Long Interglacial Ahead?" A. Berger and M. F. Loutre. Science Vol. 297. no. 5585, pp. 1287-1288. (2002)

"Glacial Inceptions: Past and Future." L.A. Mysak. Atmosphere - Ocean Vol. 46 Issue 3, p317-341. (2008)

though if you check out the mysak article, you'll see that it is entirely possible that we could have been in an ice age now if ruddiman is right that we started having a (much smaller) anthropogenic effect on CO2 levels thousands of years ago and therefore would have 'naturally' been even lower than pre-industrial CO2.

"Glacial Inceptions: Past and Future." L.A. Mysak. Atmosphere - Ocean Vol. 46 Issue 3, p317-341. (2008)

though if you check out the mysak article, you'll see that it is entirely possible that we could have been in an ice age now if ruddiman is right that we started having a (much smaller) anthropogenic effect on CO2 levels thousands of years ago and therefore would have 'naturally' been even lower than pre-industrial CO2.

now with chart! note that we are currently nearly 100 ppm higher than the bottom line that stays flat of the next 100k years.

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/3007/iceage.jpg

If only. In fact, global warming just screws up the climate, so some places will be glacial and others will be deserts. Preferably, these places would be right next to each other, cause that would look awesome.

We already have that, Antarctica is a desert.

Technically, the most recent ice age has not ended yet. When it does...well, things might be a whole lot different.

nationalize climate change

Technically, the most recent ice age has not ended yet. When it does...well, things might be a whole lot different.

we've been in the holocene interglacial for over 11k years...

we've been in the holocene interglacial for over 11k years...

Which means the climate will naturally go up and down on its own...however, people seem to forget that if we pump gases in to the atmosphere, when the temperature starts to climb again it's going to be increasingly extreme. The Earth's climate does change on its own, but that's no reason to tempt fate by messing with it.

we've been in the holocene interglacial for over 11k years...Different ice ages. The short variants you're thinking of are merely extreme points of what is, technically, a global ice age that started over two mio (Or over twenty mio, depending on what you consider its starting point) years ago.

Okay, the definition of ice age is, AFAIK, a bit fuzzy, and varies between 'Extensive ice sheets' and 'General cooling trend'. But eh.