Apparently, there's no need to reach for your mittens and scarf just yet, even though it is almost mid-January. Scientists have claimed that the next ice age will be delayed due to higher levels of carbon emissions in the atmosphere.
Researchers at the
University of Cambridge made the claim after studying the Earth's natural cycle. Their studies indicate that the planet's orbit around the sun cause an ice
.jpg "Image By: Jay Galvin")
age to occur 11, 000 years after the previous one has ended. The arrival of the next ice age is already overdue by 600 years.
An ice age is defined as a period in which global temperatures cool significantly, causing a growth in ice sheets and glaciers. So don't expect to see the return of the woolly mammoth.
The scientists led by Dr Luke Skinner also revealed that the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere would have to fall below 240ppm (parts per million) before the ice age could begin. The current concentration level is approximately 390ppm. “[...] Even if emissions stopped now we'd probably have a long interglacial duration determined by whatever long-term processes could kick in and bring CO2 levels down,” said Dr Skinner. In fact, levels would remain artificially high for the next 1,000 years, preventing a global freeze.
The study is significant as it has the potential to impact upon several key arguments in the great Global Warming debate. It also has the potential to discredit the idea that increased temperatures are due to the Earth's natural cycle, and are not caused by man-made intervention. The Global Warming Policy Foundation responded to the study, saying that the results showed that increased carbon emissions were holding back a “global disaster”.
Dr Skinner states that arguments like these are missing the point of the study, which is that carbon emission is continuing to rise, and that manmade heating is likely to have prolonged damage on the environment in the long run.