Are we in the middle on an ice age now?

[Jack]

Are we in the middle on an ice age now? I do not think that we are but my friend does.

 

[russ_watters]

Are we in the middle on an ice age now? I do not think that we are but my friend does.

No. We are at the end (or should be at the end) of an "inter-glacial" period - the period between ice ages.

 

[Jack]

Originally posted by russ_watters
No. We are at the end (or should be at the end) of an "inter-glacial" period - the period between ice ages.

Thanks, I'm going to enjoy teling my friend that.

P.S. Sorry I put it in the Mystics and Pseudo Science forum by accident.

 

[Kerrie]

if anything, i would think are planet (or at least my area) is experiencing warmer weather...

 

[Jack]

Originally posted by Kerrie
if anything, i would think are planet (or at least my area) is experiencing warmer weather...

That was part of my argument.

 

[The Grimmus]

I have read or heard somewhere that the warming actualy causes or can cause an ice age the warming melts the ice caps flooding the ocean which in turn changes the currents misdirecting warm water away form soem areas and could trigger an ice age.

there all in one sentence

 

[russ_watters]

Hmm... seems it depends on your definition.

If "ice age" is used to refer to long, generally cool, intervals during which glaciers advance and retreat, we are still in one today. Our modern climate represents a very short, warm period between glacial advances.

http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/ice_ages/when_ice_ages.html

It depends on the timeframe you are looking at. Here are several graphs showing different time scales: http://muller.lbl.gov/pages/IceAgeBook/history_of_climate.html Figure 1-5 looks like the most relevant one to me. It shows over the last 400,000 years or so we've had ice ages from 75,000-100,000 years long separated by warm periods from 2,000 to 20,000 years long. We are a good 20,000 years into one such period.

 

[quantumcarl]

Originally posted by Jack
Are we in the middle on an ice age now? I do not think that we are but my friend does.

There are theories, suchas Charles Hapgood's (agreed upon by Einstein) that the Earth actually woobles every so many thousands of years. In the Hapgood theory it was considered a crustal shift that caused the poles to "appear to change location". What actually happened was that the crust relocated to rest at the pole. Putting continents in new positions that were colder and warmer than normal for them.

Thusly, the climate changed dramatically where once it may have been temperate, producing more precipation, cold, and a build up of ice. Whallah, Ice Age. (for a particular continent or two).

Today, the wobble may not happen and the crust of the Earth may not shift. We have to wait and see... or not.

 

[Andre]

Pseudo science?

Why is this thread in pseudo science? Is,'t geology science. Well perhaps the ice age is not. As far as I'm concerned there was no ice age. So we are not on the end of an interglacial.

 

[Jack]

Andre,

I have already apologised for placing my post in the wrong forum by mistake;

Originally posted by Jack
Sorry I put it in the Mystics and Pseudo Science forum by accident.

Also, could you please explain you comment that 'As far as I'm concerned there was no ice age'.

 

[Andre]

Sure, Here is why

You want me to explain?

 

[Sting]

P.S. Sorry I put it in the Mystics and Pseudo Science forum by accident.

Which forum do you want it moved to? I'll leave it up to you.

 

[Bellatrix]

Originally posted by quantumcarl
There are theories, suchas Charles Hapgood's (agreed upon by Einstein) that the Earth actually woobles every so many thousands of years. In the Hapgood theory it was considered a crustal shift that caused the poles to "appear to change location". What actually happened was that the crust relocated to rest at the pole. Putting continents in new positions that were colder and warmer than normal for them.

Thusly, the climate changed dramatically where once it may have been temperate, producing more precipation, cold, and a build up of ice. Whallah, Ice Age. (for a particular continent or two).

Today, the wobble may not happen and the crust of the Earth may not shift. We have to wait and see... or not.

Hi QC. Yes, and there have been predictions for at least a couple of decades predicting another shift of the poles and all the resulting cataclysm. The theory doesn't contain a diffinitive time frame either when or how long it will take. Some theories predict abrupt cataclysmic change and others say it will happen over a period of time. Either way, it seems to be a natural evolution of the planet. How else would the major rivers, waterways and fertile lane be served if not for the meltwater of existing glaciers. The glaciers that are left on the planet are melting at an increasing alarming rate, raising the issue of What would happen if the glaciers dissappeared and the sources of the major riverways dried up?

We seem to be due for another ice age, but triggered how? Asteroid??