We are at the mercy of autumn and it's getting colder. Are we moving towards an ice age, one of the readers wonders.
The fleeting Danish summer is behind us. The leaves are falling from the trees, the birds are flying south, it's getting darker and, of course, colder too.
Our reader Lars Petersen from Copenhagen has begun to prepare for the cold days. And he wants to know how seriously he needs to prepare.
"When does the next glacial period? I learned that glacial and interglacial periods alternate regularly. Since we live in an interglacial period, it is logical to assume that the next ice age is ahead of us, right? he writes in a letter to the Ask Science section (Spørg Videnskaben).
We in the editorial office shudder at the thought of the cold winter that lies in wait for us at that end of autumn. We, too, would love to know if we are on the verge of an ice age.
The next ice age is still far away
Therefore, we addressed Sune Olander Rasmussen, lecturer at the Center for Basic Ice and Climate Research at the University of Copenhagen.
Sune Rasmussen studies the cold and gets information about past weather, storms, Greenland glaciers and icebergs. In addition, he can use his knowledge in order to fulfill the role of "foreteller of ice ages."
“In order for an ice age to occur, several conditions must coincide. We cannot accurately predict when the ice age will begin, but even if humanity did not further influence the climate, our forecast is that the conditions for it will develop in the best case in 40-50 thousand years,” Sune Rasmussen reassures us.
Since we are still talking to the “ice age predictor”, we can get some more information about what these “conditions” are in question in order to understand a little more about what the ice age actually is.
What is an ice age
Sune Rasmussen says that during the last ice age, the average temperature on earth was a few degrees cooler than it is today, and that the climate at higher latitudes was colder.
Much of the northern hemisphere was covered in massive ice sheets. For example, Scandinavia, Canada and some other parts North America were covered with a three-kilometer ice shell.
The huge weight of the ice cover pressed the earth's crust a kilometer into the Earth.
Ice ages are longer than interglacials
However, 19 thousand years ago, changes in the climate began to occur.
In Greenland, the last remnants of the shell came off very abruptly 11,700 years ago, or to be exact, 11,715 years ago. This is evidenced by the studies of Sune Rasmussen and his colleagues.
This means that 11,715 years have passed since the last ice age, and this is a completely normal interglacial length.
“It's funny that we usually think of the Ice Age as an 'event', when in fact it's just the opposite. The middle ice age lasts 100 thousand years, while the interglacial lasts from 10 to 30 thousand years. That is, the Earth is more often in an ice age than vice versa.
“The last couple of interglacials lasted only about 10,000 years each, which explains the widely held but erroneous belief that our current interglacial is nearing its end,” says Sune Rasmussen.
Three Factors Influence the Possibility of an Ice Age
The fact that the Earth will plunge into a new ice age in 40-50 thousand years depends on the fact that there are small variations in the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. Variations determine how much sunlight hits which latitudes, and thereby affects how warm or cold it is.
Milankovitch cycles are:
1. The orbit of the Earth around the Sun, which changes cyclically about once every 100,000 years. The orbit changes from nearly circular to more elliptical, and then back again. Because of this, the distance to the Sun changes. The farther the Earth is from the Sun, the less solar radiation our planet receives. In addition, when the shape of the orbit changes, so does the length of the seasons.
2. The tilt of the earth's axis, which fluctuates between 22 and 24.5 degrees relative to the orbit of rotation around the sun. This cycle spans approximately 41,000 years. 22 or 24.5 degrees - it seems not such a significant difference, but the tilt of the axis greatly affects the severity of the different seasons. The more the Earth is tilted, the greater the difference between winter and summer. The Earth's axial tilt is currently at 23.5 and is decreasing, which means that differences between winter and summer will decrease over the next thousand years.
3. The direction of the earth's axis relative to space. The direction changes cyclically with a period of 26 thousand years.
“The combination of these three factors determines whether there are prerequisites for the beginning of the ice age. It is almost impossible to imagine how these three factors interact, but with the help of mathematical models we can calculate how much solar radiation is received by certain latitudes at certain times of the year, as well as received in the past and will receive in the future,” says Sune Rasmussen.
Snow in summer leads to ice age
Especially important role in this context play temperatures in summer.
Milankovitch realized that for the ice age to start, summers in the northern hemisphere would have to be cold.
If winters are snowy and most of the northern hemisphere is covered in snow, then temperatures and hours of sunshine in summer determine whether snow is allowed to remain all summer.
“If the snow does not melt in the summer, then little sunlight penetrates the Earth. The rest is reflected back into space in a snow-white veil. This exacerbates the cooling that began due to a change in the orbit of the Earth around the Sun,” says Sune Rasmussen.
“Further cooling brings even more snow, which further reduces the amount of absorbed heat, and so on, until the ice age begins,” he continues.
Similarly, a period of hot summers leads to the end of the Ice Age. The hot sun then melts the ice enough so that sunlight can again reach dark surfaces like soil or the sea, which absorb it and warm the Earth.
Humans are delaying the next ice age
Another factor that is relevant to the possibility of an ice age is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Just as snow that reflects light increases the formation of ice or accelerates its melting, the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from 180 ppm to 280 ppm (parts per million) helped bring the Earth out of the last ice age.
However, ever since industrialization began, people have been pushing the CO2 share further all the time, so it's almost 400 ppm now.
“It took nature 7,000 years to raise the share of carbon dioxide by 100 ppm after the end of the ice age. Humans have managed to do the same in just 150 years. This is of great importance for whether the Earth can enter a new ice age. This is a very significant influence, which means not only that an ice age cannot begin at the moment,” says Sune Rasmussen.
We thank Lars Petersen for the good question and send the winter gray T-shirt to Copenhagen. We also thank Sune Rasmussen for the good answer.
We also encourage our readers to submit more scientific questions to [email protected]
Did you know?
Scientists always talk about the ice age only in the northern hemisphere of the planet. The reason is that there is too little land in the southern hemisphere on which a massive layer of snow and ice can lie.
With the exception of Antarctica, the entire southern part of the southern hemisphere is covered with water, which does not provide good conditions for the formation of a thick ice shell.
In addition to movies and TV shows, entertainment shows are in great demand among the viewer. As statistics show, people like to watch the development of talent in ordinary people. Shows with children bring huge incomes. Worth checking out one of the most popular shows ice age kids season 3 to watch all episodes online. The exact release date is still unknown.
Glacial period. Kids Season 3: Show Rules
The most attractive sport is figure skating. It's the perfect combination of grace and musical accompaniment allows you to collect a large number of views. This is a real dream for most children, because figure skaters are not only beautiful people but also very successful. When an athlete performs a difficult trick, it seems to a person that mastering such a skill is a simple matter. But as practice shows, not everyone is given to engage in this sport. The maximum that the majority can do is skate on ice.
Shot from the show “Ice Age. Children"
Children skaters face much greater difficulties. They have special requirements. They With early childhood learn the techniques of jumping and drawing attention to their person. The creators of such shows believe that they can compete with adults and quickly found the first group of participants.
Toddlers will be trained professional athletes successful at the Olympics. Each of them will be joined by one group of beginner skaters.
Shot from the show “Ice Age. Children" Transfer participants
- Alexey Yagudin- the main host of the entire program. The winner of the Olympic Games, was remembered by the majority of viewers due to his talent as a presenter and charisma.
- Alla Mikheeva- An employee of the first channel, took part in many broadcasts. Well-known journalist.
- Evgenia Medvedeva- hosted the second season of the program, the winner Olympic Games. Beautiful girl with a gentle character, able to find a common language with any children.
The jury members are:
- Tatyana Navka, Max Trankov, Roman Kostomarov And Averbukh Ilya.
- Tatyana Tarasova- a famous athlete of the Soviet national team figure skating. Permanent host of many sports programs.
What happened in previous seasons
Anyone can become a participant in the project, it is enough to pass the casting. After that, the jury team will distribute all the children into teams and assign them to the mentor. Then the fight for dominance begins.
It wasn't all smooth sailing and there were a lot of rumors around the show. As critics believed, many project participants were subjected to infringement, because couples always received more points than singles. However, all conjectures were destroyed, because the creators of the show denied the accusations.
Glacial period. Kids season 3: release date
- Broadcasting is carried out on the first channel on Sundays.
- The author of the unique show is Ilya Averbukh. According to the skater, the program will allow children who are fond of figure skating, develop your talent and conquer new heights at a professional level.
Trailer of the Ice Age show. Children watch online
A joint statement by various scientific organizations and academies states that Earth is entering the Little Ice Age. In an address to the heads of the world's leading governments and the UN, scientists said: "Humanity is in danger of its continued existence."
Here is a list of organizations that wrote this statement:
- German Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina
- Indian National Science Academy
- Indonesian Academy of Sciences
- Royal Irish Academy
- Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Italy)
- Academy of Sciences Malaysia
- Academy Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand
- Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
- Turkish Academy of Sciences
- Global Atmosphere Watch Program (GAW)
- Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)
- World Climate Program (WCP)
- World Climate Research Program (WCRP)
- World Weather Research Program (WWRP)
- World Weather Watch Program (WWW)
- Commission for Agricultural Meteorology
- Commission for Atmospheric Science
- Australian Academy of Sciences
- Brazilian Academy of Sciences
- Royal Society of Canada
- Caribbean Academy of Sciences
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- French Academy of Sciences
A sharp change in temperature in 2017.
Climate change in Antarctica and the South Pole
“Data collected from around the world indicate that the catastrophic scenario of cooling will be realized in the coming years. Global cooling has already begun and all of humanity will feel its devastating consequences within 4-6 years,” the report says.
A sharp decrease in the average water temperature in the equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean and in the northeastern part of the Atlantic Ocean.
Scientists emphasize that the data collected recently indicate that the intermediate water masses are cooling at a catastrophic rate.
Temperature change in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Temperature change in Greenland.
Tracing the relationship of global temperature changes, we can see that this is closely related to solar activity.
We see one of the strongest global climate fluctuations during the Holocene, the Little Ice Age marked by a long cooling period from the 14th to the 19th centuries AD. This cooling was associated with a decrease in solar activity and was especially strong during solar minimums in 1645-1715 . AD and 1790-1830. n. e. These solar activity minima are known, the Maunder minimum and the Dalton minimum. The time for a new low has already come.
Drop in temperature in the South China Sea
“And this is just the beginning, we will face an increasing number of abnormal weather events every day. There will be no place on Earth that these changes will not touch. All countries in the world will be affected by these changes. A new ice age is coming, the entire weather system of the planet is changing and collapsing. Under attack will be all the most important infrastructure for the survival of people. Hunger and cold, that's what humanity expects in the coming years," scientists write.
Global changes are clearly visible from the cataclysms already taking place around the globe. the recent anomalous phenomena in Russia are a very clear example of such changes. Tornadoes, tornadoes, hurricanes, snow in summer, hail, sharp drops in temperature have all been seen by the whole world. Russian meteorologists are no longer able to give a clear and distinct explanation of the reasons why all this is happening, and no one in the whole world will be able to give these explanations.
There is an explanation and it is real - everything that is happening is just the beginning of global cooling and it will affect not only Russia, all of humanity in all countries of the world will fall under its blow.
“We urge heads of state and government around the world to take our report very seriously. It is about the survival of all mankind, and whether it will exist on this planet at all. This is a danger that our modern civilization has not yet encountered in its history. To all leaders. of all the countries of our world, it is necessary now to prepare their countries and people for what awaits them in the very near future. Now is not the time for wars and political strife - it's time to unite in order to survive. Humanity is in danger and only by joint efforts can we try to survive,” the report says.
All this did not begin today or yesterday, but no one wanted to pay attention to the formidable signs. Alarming climate change began back in 2013, when snow suddenly fell in Romania at the most inopportune time period for this, and the most severe winter in 200 years came in Germany, abnormal cold and snowfall came in the USA, and a record low temperatures were set in Antarctica for the entire time of observation, frosts hit Syria and this list goes on and on.
In 2014, the situation did not improve, but became even worse. The number of weather anomalies only increased. There are so many of them that it makes no sense to list everything, it's obvious.
The Gulf Stream has stopped and this is indicated by data from The Earth Wind Map and The NOAA Data Satellite. The Gulf Stream is a warm current, it has become cold and such an anomaly does not bode well for us.
Some climatologists could no longer remain silent and support false assurances about global warming. for example, NASA climatologist John L. Casey, publicly stated that a radical shift has occurred in the global climate and this is not an accident, not a temporary change, but a pattern that changes our climate globally and for decades to come. He warned that if the scientific community and governments around the world do not act in the face of global cooling, the consequences for humanity will be catastrophic.
John L. Casey has warned that the planet is entering a global ice age that will last at least 30 years. Mass death of people and famine, that's what humanity expects.
The Research and Development Corporation (GCSR) is an independent research institute based in Orlando, Florida, USA. It aims to alert governments, media and people to prepare for catastrophic climate change.
Scientists collaborating with GCSR believe that global cooling will be accompanied by the activation of volcanoes and catastrophic earthquakes. Severe frosts, blizzards, snowfalls, global anomalous cooling will last not a year or two, but 30 or 50 years.
Scientists who had the courage to go against the current deceitful system of "global warming" wrote articles, spoke in the media, wrote appeals to the leaders of states, but no one listened to them. The year 2017 has come and already everyone in the world sees for themselves and begins to realize that something incomprehensible and frightening is happening with the weather on earth.
Awareness comes, but time is lost, and if this awareness does not come from those on whom the fate of people depends, the countries they rule will soon disappear.
