Next Ice Age Postponed Thanks To Global Warming

No, we're not talking about what might be a sequel to a full feature 3D animated film. We are talking about what could have been an imminent natural event that would have brought all life as we know it to its knees. The next ice age, the well known term referring to an extremely long period of bitter cold, is going to be delayed by as much as 100,000 years. Ironically, the Earth has been spared from that fate by global warming, which is also warned to bring a different kind of doom to the planet.

The last ice age was said to have ended just about 12,000 years ago and it lasted 100,000 years before that. During that stretch of time, ice sheets from the north would reach as far south as the UK and Germany. It also covered pretty much most of Canada, which is by no means a small area, and the northern US. Considering that the lull between ice ages are believed to last 20,000 to 30,000 years, according to scientists, the next one would have been due in 8,000 to 18,000 years.

Thanks to global warming, however, it's going to take a lot, lot longer than that. Its effects of raising carbon dioxide levels have made conditions for the next ice age, like the spread of ice sheets, less probable. Truth be told, however, it's not entirely global warming's fault. Even without it, scientists' models predict that the next ice age would have been delayed already by 50,000 years. The climate change only the earth more time, by another 50,000 years.

Of course, that's not to say that global warming is suddenly a good thing. It may have saved our far distant descendants from an ice age, but our closer descendants may suffer from a great flood instead, with ice sheets melting at a much higher rate. Either way, we're pretty much screwed unless we do something about it. Fortunately, at least 195 nations are at least taking notice, if not action.

Whether or not delaying the ice age will have negative repercussions down the line is still unknown. Scientist familiar with the new study remark how the calculations are both fascinating and frightening at the same time. It has demonstrated how man has been able to affect the course of nature beyond just the next century or millennium but for hundreds of thousands of years to come. Hopefully, man can use that power to also effect a positive change as well.

SOURCE: Bloomberg