Can global warming lead to ice age?

Answer 1

Theoretically yes. Global warming, ostensibly causing melting of the Greenland ice pack could flood the North Atlantic current with fresh water interrupting the warming cycle that moderates UK and European climate. The resultant drop in temperature could spark a "cascade effect" lowering temperatures and creating a new ice age.

Answer 2

Global warming is actually causing a decrease in glaciers and ice sheets, leading to a reduction in ice cover rather than the formation of an ice age. The Earth's climate is currently warming due to human activities like burning fossil fuels, which is raising global temperatures rather than cooling them.

Answer 3

No. but may be in some places. In europe we are quite warm even though we are on the same laititude as Canada. Why are we so warm if we are so far north? because of the gulf stream, the gulf stream is the strongest ocean current in the world and it brings tons of hot water from the carribean and therefore heats up europe dramatically. the last european ice age was staright after the North America ice age Why? because all the ice melted from north america therefore bringing millions of litres of cold water flowing into the atlantic this ran straight into the gulf stream and stopped it therefore europe went into an ice age because instead of hot water cold water was being pushed up into europe. This will happen if greenland melts. And it is melting now at an frightening rate. Denmark will have to keep greenland for its minerals to buy food as the whole of europe will starve. Its to late to stop global warming we cant do it people arent listening because americas goverment all own big oil companies and ecourage you to buy huge cars. Everyone is resting on science. Dont. Its stupid. We wont suddenly invent a replacement for oil. In my opinion in 50 years time half of us would have been wiped out by the effects of global warming because of food and drink shortages and wars and god knows what else. The future will be non existent

Answer 4

The climate is very complicated so trends and long term changes are difficult to analyze and predict. An ice age (which in most climatologist's views is inevitably coming within a few millennia to ten thousand years if not sooner) may be postponed by global warming.

Answer 5

Ice Ages are believed to be triggered by the Milankovitch cycles, which operate over periods in the order of thousands of years, but are unlikely to have very much impact on the decade-century timescale. We are not due for another Ice Age in the near future, so no, we have not averted an Ice Age.

Answer 6

The climate has been changing since the end of the last glaciation only about 10,000 years ago and the average global temperature has been going up and down since then.

As we are still in the ice age which started about 2.6 million years ago it is very likely to repeatedly become cooler and warmer in cycles as it has done for many hundreds of thousands of years.

Answer 7

Global Warming is really about climate change and the storage of energy in the atmosphere. As our atmosphere becomes larger (increasingly voluminous), it stores more thermal energy radiated from the earth (the earth is heated by the Sun, and the earth re-radiates that energy, as heat, to our atmosphere).

A warmer atmosphere causes more water to evaporate. Also, a warmer atmosphere can store more moisture, and thus becomes a slightly more voluminous atmosphere. Then, the atmosphere can store slightly more heat energy. And evaporate more water. And store it. And store more heat. And on and on until we've got a fairly large, wet atmosphere.

Most precipitation starts as snow... Rain is typically snow that melted on the way down... If we begin to see large, powerful weather systems that dump huge amounts of snow (in say, April?), then lots of Solar energy could be reflected back into space (until say, August?), and we could witness an entire year in which NY or OR or Canada might see snow on the ground. This is how it begins... That one year, should we fail to retain enough solar energy, could result in a permanent cover of snow that will reflect away a huge portion of solar energy for the next ten-thousand years or more. No more summers in Atlantic City. Take up igloo making.

A:

As our atmosphere becomes more polluted with 'greenhouse' gasses, it prevents thermal energy being radiated from the earth (the earth is heated by the Sun, and the earth re-radiates that energy, as heat, to space.

A warmer atmosphere can store more water vapour, also a 'greenhouse' gas. This further decreases the energy radiated away.

In such an unbalanced scenario there are those that claim huge and violent changes in global temperature can take place. Perhaps, precipitating an ice age.

However there are also scenario where the 'greenhouse effect' can 'runaway' and heat the planet significantly, as has happened with Venus.

Answer 8

No. Global warming means the world's temperature is rising. This is melting glaciers and ice caps.

Answer 9

No, the Earth is in an interglacial and is currently getting warmer due to an anthropogenically-enhanced greenhouse effect.

Answer 10

Yes, ice age is a natural global climate change, taking tens of thousands of years to arrive.