Are we headed for an Ice Age?

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Danoff

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Actually we may be in one right now. I don't know how many of you knew this but we're currently in an Ice Epoch!

Here's a quote

"We are currently beyond the expected end-point of an interglacial period that began more than 10,000 years ago. We are thus at a point on the paleoclimatic timetable where the onset of a new 100,000-year ice age is expected and may even be already in progress. The global climate has been generally cooling over the past 6,000 to 8,000 years,"

http://members.tripod.com/~american_almanac/hecht1.htm#f1

We're in what is called an interglacial period - a warm spot between Ice ages.

This interglacial period started roughly 13,000 years ago (that's 7000 years before some people think the Earth was created). Interglacial periods last between 10,000 and 15,000 years - which means we're right at the point where ours should end.

I've actually read that scientists think interglacial periods can end really quickly. They've found Wolly Mammoth remains preserved in Ice fairly well - meaning that at one point it was hanging around during the summer doing it's thing and as winter set in it got trapped and froze. But the thing is, if it had thawed again the next summer, the mammoth remains would have decayed. Which means that scientists think it occured at the end of an interglacial period and the temperature dropped that much over ONE WINTER!!!

So this could be it. This could be the last summer before the Ice Age sets back in. How freaking cool is that?
 
I thought we were suffering from global warming? I'm confused. :dunce: But if an enviromentalist said it it MUST be true!
 
lol you wouldn't think it was an ice age over here its been 100+ the last month.

This could be it. Enjoy the 100+ degrees because this winter could last 100,000 years! :)

I thought we were suffering from global warming? I'm confused. But if an enviromentalist said it it MUST be true!

It may turn out that we really need global warming :lol: but it's not clear yet whether humanity has had any significant impact on the global climate.
 
well if you go by the theory in "The Day After Tomorrow" all the heat melting the caps and causing rising sea levels is what created the sudden ice age. we could be on the verge of global refridgeration. :nervous: i love cold weather but -100 would be a little chilly i think.
 
actually right now its nice and cloudy outside first time i didn't break a sweat all summer long at cross country practice so i was happy, actually its nice outside I hope it stays like this. 👍
 
well if you go by the theory in "The Day After Tomorrow" all the heat melting the caps and causing rising sea levels is what created the sudden ice age. we could be on the verge of global refridgeration. i love cold weather but -100 would be a little chilly i think.

I don't think it would be global. I'm pretty sure that Ice Ages didn't ever cover the entire globe. They just extend the really cold weather down farther south than it is now.

Canadians would be more comfortable in the mid US for example. Texans would be more comfortable in Mexico. Mexicans would have to move to the equator - and the equatorians would have to... they won't be as comfortable.
 
It didnt cover the whole globe but it was snowing and cold in Mexico. Thats colder that the inside of a fridge. The ice didn't cover all South Carolina so i think i would just stay here. 👍
 
It didnt cover the whole globe but it was snowing and cold in Mexico. Thats colder that the inside of a fridge. The ice didn't cover all South Carolina so i think i would just stay here.

That's permanent ice... as in stays put year round... as in barely above freezing only for a short period of time.

I don't think I'd want to live anywhere near someplace that cold.
 
danoff
Mexicans would have to move to the equator - and the equatorians would have to... they won't be as comfortable.

:lol: I couldn't find a frozen mexican :grumpy:
frozen%20jack.jpg
 
danoff
So this could be it. This could be the last summer before the Ice Age sets back in. How freaking cool is that?

I'm ready. It's been hotter here this week than the inside of a stalled van in the middle of the Sahara at noon. A 15 degree drop in temps would put us at a nice 75 right now. Bring it on.

I going to get on the phone right after this to buy some prime future farm land in the middle of Mexico.


M
 
Ice age??? was watching Discovery Channel last night (got the poop scared out of me). It's that Caldera in Yellowstone Nat. Park that has me a bit concerned...
 
EvilToast: Your smiley and your avatar are shaking in unison... it's scaring me....

I was under the impression that we're still on the last vestiges of the last ice age, that the next was many thousands of years away... now they're saying we're due for another one? Seems kind of rediculous... if the "norm" for the planet is an ice age, then wouldn't we technically be in the middle of a "warm age" now?
 
Relax guys, the Yellowstone Caldera problem is exaggerated.

Jake Lowenstern
These realities, however, do not always make it into the coverage we see in TV documentaries, on the Internet or in the popular press. Sometimes, the media bends the realities to make for better entertainment rather than better science, as evidenced by my experiences over the past three years evaluating everything from fictional movies about Yellowstone to dispelling myths on Internet chat rooms.

Jake Lowenstern
In the BBC-Discovery Channel docudrama Supervolcano, Yellowstone volcano erupts violently, sending hundreds of cubic miles’ worth of debris into the atmosphere and creating plumes of ash and debris that race at hundreds of miles an hour. Although this type of eruption has happened in the geologic past, scientists say an eruption of that magnitude is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Courtesy of Discovery Communications.

Read the article here: http://www.agiweb.org/geotimes/june05/feature_supervolcano.html


M
 
Noooooo, I like warm weather! :( I was so happy to get back home the other day – Mammoth was way too cold for me (during the summer, mind you).

At least it'll teach all them people ranting about global warming. "You don't want the Earth to get warmer? Well then, take this!"
 
The 2nd Ice Age is due in 2006, so it'll be here before you know it.
 
Who knows... Scientists do not yet fully understand everything around us - they may be just using "intelligent/educated" guessing. I really doubt we are in an Ice Age - thought I think the sun is burning hotter though.
 
Im thinking this should go in the Opinions forum?

Anyways...

I doubt the next ice age will come any time soon.IF it does,we can all move to death valley where 130* + temperatures are average!
 
I doubt the next ice age will come any time soon.IF it does,we can all move to death valley where 130* + temperatures are average!

*Goes to ///M-spec's real estate agent to buy land in Death Valley*
 
Ice age begins with a slight change in snow usually... it stays longer in northern areas to start. The snow then reflects more light from teh sun, which drops the average ground temps, and thus air temps. Which creates extended winters.

However, its not like everything is negative 10 year round. Just more like winter with a bit of a warmer period for the summer, but with snow lingering... from what I understand.

So its fine with me... winter is nice anyhow :D
 
We saw The Day After flick just last week. Pretty interesting stuff. Is any of that real?

They talked about the Wolly Mammoth being "flash" frozen. The food in it's mouth was frozen, as well as the food in its stomach. Is there cold enough air in the upper atmosphere to "flash freez" stuff on Earth?
 
Everything in that movie should be taken with a BIG grain of salt.

We need Famine in here now :p
 
Azuremen
Everything in that movie should be taken with a BIG grain of salt.

We need Famine in here now :p
Yep. That's why I asked. Three British Helicopters flash freeze in the movie, also. After they crash, the guy opens the door and instantly freezes. It was cool, but doesn't seem real.

My BIG grain of salf, right there.
 
I've seen teh movie... its psuedo science at points... and then not at others...

Psuedo science is evil. Like in teh core "Ultra sonic lasers" -_-;;; Ultra sonic is for sound waves, and lasers are photons...

Good for a drinking game though... drink when bad science is mentioned :lol: Same will happen to The Day After.
 
Azuremen
I've seen teh movie... its psuedo science at points... and then not at others...

Psuedo science is evil. Like in teh core "Ultra sonic lasers" -_-;;; Ultra sonic is for sound waves, and lasers are photons...

Good for a drinking game though... drink when bad science is mentioned :lol: Same will happen to The Day After.
:lol: Good stuff!

I have the Day After Tomorrow on DVD. It's pretty good, but I wouldn't take the science in that movie seriously. Also, they showed fake Japan that looked like a studio lot and most of the Japanese people were fake too. 👎 :yuck:

If we really are headed for an Ice Age, that would give me an excuse to fatten myself up! Yessssssssssssssss!
 
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