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An Ice Age Was Coming. Our Emissions Reversed It
Newser • • science
Key Points:
- A new study published in Science reveals that Earth was beginning a new glacial period around 2,000 years ago, but human-driven greenhouse gas emissions reversed this trend by the 1960s.
- Despite current warming, we are still technically in an ice age that started 34 million years ago, with the last glacial period ending about 11,700 years ago, leading to the current interglacial Holocene epoch.
- Researchers analyzed plant remains from Canada's Barnes Ice Cap, showing it shrank to its smallest size 3,600 years ago, grew again 1,600 years later during glaciation, and has recently retreated due to modern warming.
- Glaciologist Shaun Marcott suggests that human greenhouse gas emissions could extend the current interglacial period by hundreds of thousands of years, significantly disrupting Earth's long-standing climate cycles.
