The fact that the Earth has warmed and cooled throughout its history is a matter of record. It is a fact, not open to debate, and really not something that will help us to predict if it will be warmer or cooler next year, 5 years from now, 50 years from now, etc….
What it does tell us is that, at some point in the future, the Earth will get warmer, or cooler, and then reverse the trend again in a cycle that has been going on for more than 800,000 years.
So, should we panic? Do we need to change how we live our lives to save us from global warming? That depends on if you believe that anything we are doing during our brief stay on this planet is actually accelerating the journey towards a warmer planet or perhaps delaying the next ice age.
Seems to me there might be some benefit in delaying the next ice age, but then again, it seems unlikely a glacier will be flowing down my street within my lifetime.
The article from 2000 that I read has some interesting points that got me thinking. The writer’s intent, I believe, was to focus on an acceleration towards warming over the last 150 years due to industrialization. What was interesting is a theory, based upon some historical data, that any warming will be followed by an ice age. The thinking, at least back in 2000, was that the melting of the polar caps would increase the water in the oceans, interrupting the currents that influence the global climate by circulating warm water from the equator to the poles, and essentially causing rapid cooling north and south of the equator (rapid being measured in hundreds of years).
So essentially, the Earth has a built in thermostat or regulator… which tells me that this is all going to happen no matter what you and I do. Perhaps we can slow or accelerate the process to some degree based upon our behaviors, but ultimately the Earth will warm until it reaches a point where the controlling influence of the oceans will kick in and drive the temperatures back down, glaciers will migrate towards the equator until the warming starts again… repeat as necessary…
So… should we reduce emissions, have cleaner air and water, treat the Earth as if it’s the only planet we have, at the moment, that can support life? Absolutely.
Will anything we do stop global warming? No.
More reading: Scientific American 2004, National geographic News 2007
Form the National geographic Article:
In today’s online journal Science, the team showed that the coldest period occurred around 20,000 years ago, during the last glacial maximum, when the ice sheets were at their peak.
It was about 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) colder than today.
Meanwhile, the warmest period was during the last interglacial period, which is an interval of warmer global average temperature that separates ice ages. At that time, around 130,000 years ago, it was a balmy 4.5 degrees Celsius (8.1 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than today.
Amazing that they are drilling down to ice that formed nearly a million years ago… ice that is still there… and is providing a fascinating glimpse into the history of this planet of ours… pretty damn phenomenal.
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