The Approaching Ice Age ~Devochka, Dark Writer, & Spiritsof the Light"   Author:  18887  Category:(Discussion) Created:(9/2/2005 12:46:00 PM) This post has been Viewed (623 times) ALRIGHT SKEPTICS LETS SEE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY "AFTER" YOU READ THIS! :) Enjoy! Throughout history the climate of the Earth has undergone numerous colossal changes that have in turn affected the various forms of life that have inhabited this small oasis. The survival of these organisms has been determined by their ability to adapt to the changing environments which are often influenced by even the smallest changes in climate. The Earth has experienced eras ranging from tropical periods to ice ages with everything else in between. This raises a critical question of not “will the Earth’s climate change again causing species to compete for survival,” but rather, “when will it happen?” According to geological evidence one of the most likely transformations that will occur relatively soon will be a gradual movement towards another Ice Age. This paper will demonstrate the characteristics of previous Ice Ages, factors that have contributed to them, and how several possible components could serve as catalysts to initiate yet another. In geological terms, the Earth is currently in an age known as the Quaternary Period, which can accurately be described as the cycle of Ice Ages. According to geologists the Quaternary Period began approximately 1.6 billion years ago and has had as many as seventeen extreme shifts in global temperatures resulting in Ice Ages and “Post-Glacial” intervals (Sutecliffe 9). The average time of each previous Ice Age has been approximately 100,000 years while interglacial periods have lasted for the most part only 8,000 to 12,000 years. The Earth is currently in a “Post-Glacial” time frame which started about 10,000-15,000 years ago (11). Amazingly, the first methods of Agriculture were also developed roughly 10,000 years ago which suggests that advanced forms civilization may have also existed in the previous post-glacial periods which have been shown to be closely related to our own in both time span and temperature. This idea, however, is minuscule when compared to the possibility that the Earth could be descending into yet another Ice Age as glaciers begin to reclaim lost ground. Some evidence exists that humans may have been responsible for delaying the cycle to at least a certain extent. The Ice Age Aversion Theory by D. Wilson suggests that global warming caused by the Industrial Revolution has reversed the trend towards a drastic climate change. This can be supported by relatively modern documentation of history in the form of the “Little Ice Age” which lasted from about A.D. 1500-1850 consequently causing crop failures, famine, and emigration out of Europe (12). On a greater scale, the Quaternary Period can be divided into sections directly proportionate to the rise of humans. The Paleolithic Age, also known as the Old Stone Age, coincides with the Pleistocene Era which lasted from 1.6 billion to 10,000 years ago. The second division of the Quaternary is called the Holocene Era which includes the Mesolithic Age (Middle Stone Age), the Neolithic Era (New Stone Age), and finally up to present-day accounting for the last 10,000 years (15). In this relatively short amount of time of 1.6 billion years, the Earth’s climate has been transformed numerous times as glaciers have expanded and retreated leaving only scraps of evidence as to what has happened in between and what exactly will occur in the future. Although we are currently living in an world of industry that is quickly becoming an information age, humans are still vulnerable to a potential massive climate change. Even seemingly small disasters compared to great Ice Ages have had extreme adverse effects on the world’s climate and in turn the multitude of populations of living organisms. Perhaps the most compelling evidence that the Earth’s climate can be radically changed through a small event remains in the form of a little known volcanic eruption in Indonesia during the early 1800’s. In April 1815 the volcano Tambora on the island of Sumbawa exploded in violent fury hurling an estimated 40 cubic miles of debris into the atmosphere. Approximately 90,000 people died and so much dust was retained in the atmosphere that 1816 became known as “the year without a summer” as global temperatures dropped on the whole by at least 3 degrees Celsius (Paulus 25). Another example of an impacting occurrence can be exemplified in the Tunguska Event which happened on June 3, 1908 after a small meteor or comet exploded above a Siberian forest. Nearly 750 square miles of trees were leveled like toothpicks and scorched by the intense heat. Londoners were able to read their newspapers outside that night because the glow was so intense. Although mostly forgotten with the onset of World War I, the effects of this incident are still being explored today. Interestingly, a thin layer of dust was recently found by geologists researching in Antarctica that was reportedly deposited in 1908 proving that dust had been lifted into the air possibly cooling the planet for a short time (25). One shudders to think of what could happen if these forgotten catastrophes were repeated on a grand scale. However, volcanic eruptions and meteor impacts are not the only possibilities that could cause a shift in the Earth’s climate towards a new Ice Age. It is generally believed that the Earth’s relationship to the Sun in its rotation and the ‘wobble’ on its axis have caused several Ice Ages in the past (Chorlton 151). The moments when Earth has been furthest away from the Sun in its elliptical orbit while the Northern Hemisphere has been in the winter season have generally coincided with the initiation of the Ice Ages(151). Once the process has begun, global cooling will possibly prove to be an unrelenting foe. “During Ice sheet growth, the expanding area of cool continental air reacts with the incoming flow of oceanic moisture to produce heavy snowfalls over larger and larger areas, as the snow line creeps downward...” (151). Other circumstances that have been linked to initiating Ice Ages include continental drift and changes in the intensity of the Sun (Ward 85). This cycle of Earthly climate changes affected by limitless factors is not a single event, but an occurrence which has been repeated on regular intervals for millions of years and will undoubtedly happen again. Regardless of the array of possible factors that could single-handedly set off an Ice Age, more subtle but important signals are also upon us. Severe climate changes have frequently occurred after the large scale biological diversity of the planet has been altered. The most obvious example of this is the continuing exponential increase of the population of humans. People have altered the planet like no other single species before the beginning or our ascent 10,000 years ago. Since then, we have changed the very face of the Earth through practices such as agriculture, engineering, and urban development all of which exist only to further our influence over nature. Historically, loss of biodiversity, especially in plant life, has preceded Ice Ages. In the last 100 years humans have destroyed so much biological life that excessive change is imminent. Since 1945 25% of the world’s topsoil has been lost to erosion while one third of the Earth’s forests have disappeared (Ward 206). The stage has been set for a rapid and large-scale climatic change. The only component remaining, that is needed for a dramatic shift, is a single defining event which could augment the gradual process into a sudden and disturbing crisis. NASA has estimated that the Earth has a 1 in 10,000 chance of being hit by a large comet or meteor which would conceivably throw enough gas and dust into the stratosphere to begin another Ice Age (Paulus 20). This can be compared to a 1 in 9,100 chance of being struck by lightening, a 1 in 12,000 chance of being murdered within a year, and a 1 in 4,600,000 possibility of dying in a plane crash (20). As outrageous as the idea may seem, the only element remaining that could possibly set off a new Ice Age could be a singular event such as the ones previously mentioned previously. All of which the human race could not realistically prevent or control, but only delay the final conclusion for a short amount of time. At least 10,000 years have passed since the last great Ice Age, roughly the amount of time between the average inter-glacial periods of which the longest lasted at most 12,000 years. Therefore, it is feasible that within the next 5,000 years an Ice Age will occur that can only be hastened by the effects of humanity which will reach a population of 20 billion in 2030 causing only further upheaval in the environment. Simply put, we’re overdue on this particular loan on time and it can only be extended for an increasingly short interval. Perhaps the only question that remains is, “What will get us first?” Whether it will be war and nuclear weapons, over population, disease and viruses, Armageddon, or another Ice Age, the outcome does not look good even for the brightest of optimists. You can join Unsolved Mysteries and post your own mysteries or interesting stories for the world to read and respond to Click here Scroll all the way down to read replies. Show all stories by   Author:  18887 ( Click here ) Spring is coming