The earth is a very complex place. It is constantly moving and changing, without remorse for exterminating entire species. In today's society, could global warming throw us into an ice age? The answer is No, but if someone asked these questions hundreds of years ago, the answer would be Yes. Today, we have too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and there would be no possible way to throw the plant into an ice age.
But how does the warming of the earth make the planet dramatically colder?
The key to the consistent climate in on Earth is the ocean currents. It carries the warm water up from the southern hemisphere to north, and keeps countries like the United States warm.
Ocean currents are driven by the Thermohaline Circulation (THC), which is just a big word for how the currents move. The constant flowing of the warm water floating up and the cold water sinking down, along with the salinity (amount of salt) in the water, keep the currents moving.
With Global Warming, the glaciers will eventually melt. The cold water with no salinity with combine with the warmer water in the ocean, and greatly disturb the currents. This will throw the planet into an ice age if the carbon dioxide levels are high, but not excessively high, as they are today.
1 comment:
This article was very informative and even assuring in a way. I was not aware of the causes and effects of global warming, nor the way currents are altered. Overall I enjoyed the comfort of knowing the current status of our planet and improbability of an ice age; and at the same time being curious as I am liked the new information i learned about the Earth. I still doubt it's credibility for the reason I don't believe global warming would be such an issue if this was the case.
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