As a glaciologist, our THIS science editor is often asked ‘Aren’t we actually heading to another ice age?’ and ‘Why do I hear that the global average temperature might go down?’. The short answer is: Yes. We are now in a warm interglacial period. The earth will enter a cold glacial period, but maybe, in tens of thousands of years. And hopefully human beings will not have died out yet because of the current global warming. But there are a lot of solid scientific theory and hypnosis behind the answers to those questions. How you interpret them might lead to misunderstanding.
After reading a post about ‘global cooling and glaciation’ that is full of jargon and misconception, THIS science editor has decided to ask for help from Thisis to talk about the myth, hopefully, in a more human understandable manner.
The earth does not need us to take care. We are worried about climate change only because we are worried about ourselves, after all.
Enjoy!
Click to enlarge the strips below
SCIENTIFIC CONTENT – YONGMEI GONG
ARTISTIC DESIGN – PEI YU LIN
Picture Credits/Sources:
- https://www.eparxies.gr/fevgi-synnefo-skonis/
- Ed Boyle
- John Carl Villanueva, Universe Today
- Ray Troll / Troll Art
- IPCC
- David Hathaway/NASA
- Zharkova et al., 2015
- Jan Abrahamsz. Beerstraten, “Het Paalhuis en de Nieuwe Brug te Amsterdam in de Winter,” 1640-1666
- IPCC
- https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/what-is-the-paris-agreemen
Further reading:
- https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/EnergyBalance
- http://www.iceandclimate.nbi.ku.dk/research/past_atmos/composition_greenhouse/glacial_cycle/
- http://www.indiana.edu/~geol105/images/gaia_chapter_4/milankovitch.htm
- http://la.climatologie.free.fr/glaciation/glaciation-english.htm
- https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/abrupt-climate-change/Glacial-Interglacial%20Cycles
- https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-long-can-we-expect-present-interglacial-period-last?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products
- http://science.sciencemag.org/content/325/5945/1236
- https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/news-articles/solar-minimum-is-coming
- http://science.sciencemag.org/content/325/5945/1236
- https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article-abstract/58/2/2.17/3074082?redirectedFrom=fulltext
- http://notrickszone.com/2017/04/10/a-swelling-volume-of-scientific-papers-now-forecasting-global-cooling-in-the-coming-decades/
- https://physicsworld.com/a/physicists-claim-further-evidence-of-link-between-cosmic-rays-and-cloud-formation/
- http://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0108-y
- https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GISSTemperature/giss_temperature2.php
- https://www.vox.com/2018/10/5/17934174/climate-change-global-warming-un-ipcc-report-1-5-degrees
- https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement