Climate Change Leading to Ice Age
| Climate Change Leading to Ice Age08-08-2016 04:07 | |
| matt_attak☆☆☆☆☆ (4) |
Just wondering if any of you have any knowledge of this? http://www.livescience.com/3751-global-warming-chill-planet.html I'm writing a novel that involves this setting, and would love to have your feedback. Theoretically, where would the non-iced areas be? Would the equator shift its position? I realize this is a subjective question, just looking for feedback. |
| 08-08-2016 05:02 | |
| Leafsdude★☆☆☆☆ (141) |
Can you clarify the setting a bit better? I'm not sure what you mean by "non-iced areas" because I'm not sure I get the context of the question. Equatorial shifts, just like pole shifts, do not happen due to any climatic events. It would be a geological effect, as in physical changes to the surface of the Earth, not something that could be caused by any atmospheric change. Edited on 08-08-2016 05:09 |
| 08-08-2016 05:29 | |
| matt_attak☆☆☆☆☆ (4) |
Ok, that's what I thought about the equator, thank you! The idea is that climate change kicks off an ice age, but there are areas in the world that are habitable, that support plant life. I'm just trying to get an accurate idea of where that would be on the planet. |
| 08-08-2016 05:48 | |
| Leafsdude★☆☆☆☆ (141) |
Do a search on Google Images for "last glacial maximum". There's some really impressive images of the makeup of the Earth as far as habitation goes. Here's a couple for ya, as a tease :  It should also be noted that, being glacial maximums, those were peak conditions, as in Dec-Feb for the northern hemisphere and June-August in the southern. Summer conditions would still see dramatic thawing of ice sheets to the point where even some of the southern parts of Canada and Siberia were habitable. Hope this helps! The rest of the context from IBdaMann's quote: "Raw data does not show accurate trends. As many deniers like to state, using raw data would not account for effects like the Urban Heat Island effect or El Nino's and La Nina's (though the latter can and does show up even when the data is modified) as well as basic noise from normal, natural changes in yearly weather patterns. This is why climatologists use anomalous temperature events rather than actual temperatures, as they've proven to be more accurate at showing trends." Edited on 08-08-2016 05:59 |
| 08-08-2016 06:43 | |
| matt_attak☆☆☆☆☆ (4) |
Wonderful! Thank you!! I do have one more question, though: would this dramatically shift the ocean temperature? I've read that a shifted ocean temperature would change ocean currents, thereby making the ocean anaerobic, creating mass ocean extinction and a smell of sulfur. Would an ice age go hand in hand with an ocean die-off, or is that an incorrect assumption? |
| 08-08-2016 07:02 | |
| Leafsdude★☆☆☆☆ (141) |
As always when talking about climate effects on life, the question is not about absolute values, but speed. If the shift is dramatic on a scale of time, life will have a tough time coping. If its gradual, chances are life will evolve with it. If any changes, high or low, happen on a scale of tens of thousands of years, those ecosystems can potentially adapt and survive with minimal damage. If its on a scale of even a thousand years, though, it could cause massive extinctions. Ice ages and warming are neither good nor bad with regards to life on the grand scale. We've gone through numerous ice ages in our planet's history and many evolutionary trees, including ocean-dwelling ones. have survived them, so, no, ice ages don't necessarily result in a "die-off". Rapid changes are what causes such events. Edited on 08-08-2016 07:07 |
| 08-08-2016 20:29 | |
| Tim the plumber★★★★☆ (1356) |
matt_attak wrote: The map they show is bollocks. The vast majority of mixing of warm and cold ocianic water happens as the Southern Ocean hits everything else. This is the way almost all deep ocean currents happen as water sinks when it gets to 4c. There cannot be a significant release of vast amounts of melt water because there is no vast lake of it about. The ancient lake that was between the slowly retreating ice sheet over Northern North America and the terminal morrain it had pushed along in colder times was vast and deep. Today's ice is on mountains. So no can do. If you want a reason for a cooling of Northern Europe then have the Mid-Atlantic ridge rise up a bit and interrupt the Gulf stream. That would do it. Scotland and Norway would still have huge rainfall but this time in winter it would be snow and if it was deep enough it would have trouble melting in summer especially if the rising of the MAR had volcanoes with it. |
| 09-08-2016 10:22 | |
| matt_attak☆☆☆☆☆ (4) |
So you believe that sheets of ice would be unlikely in this scenario? What, in your mind, would you say is the most likely climate change scenario in the next 100 years? Ice age, water shortage, ice cap melting, agricultural shortages...? Just trying to get some input here and learn |
| 27-08-2016 07:58 | |
| StephenS20☆☆☆☆☆ (12) |
In theory, if enough ice melted quickly enough, it could disrupt the ocean currents leading to "ice age" like conditions. However, it still wouldn't make the entire Earth uninhabitable. It would lead to agricultural shortages, water shortages in many areas, and extreme cold in many areas inhabited currently. Of course, these changes would occur over a few decades rather than the mere few days portrayed in "A Day After Tomorrow". Personally, I think the "ice age caused by global warming" thing is unlikely but by no means impossible. I do think it would cause jet stream destabilization that could lead to cold air diving further southward over North America and Europe though. If the air in the polar vortex expands as a result of being warmer, it will drift further to the south. Therefore, the arctic air will spread further to the south, and the jet stream will weaken and spread further south along with it. This could, at times, bring snow to areas significantly to the south of where it is experienced now. However, the "extreme cold" that is experienced in the northeast will greatly lessen, as the arctic air mass will no longer be as cold. These changes have been somewhat observable in my home town in upstate New York, I theorize. In past decades, the coldest nights of the year tended to be around -10 to -20 degrees. Nowadays, most years it typically gets down to around zero or a few degrees below. This is actually a significant change, although most people don't notice it because -10 or -20 doesn't really feel much different than zero degrees does. It still becomes so cold that people simply don't notice the difference. |
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