Historical And Future Ice Age

Historical And Future Ice Age

The earth’s climate has not been constant for the last four billion years. This fluctuation brings suspicion that the climate might change again in the near future. One is left to wonder whether we are still living in the ice age or a period of transition. As far as the history of human beings cannot be traced, as the history of ice and historical records might become less and less reliable in this research. It started back before the 21st century. It is believed that about a third of the earth was covered by ice in twenty thousand years ago. Soon after the earth started warming, and the ice started to melt gradually. In the process it left lakes and huge valleys. The melting made the rocks to disintegrate and they were swept to these valleys and lakes. The only ice that was left was on the top of the mountains since they were relatively cooler as compared to the lowlands. By the year three thousand BC the glaciers of the recent Ice Age had melted but the Alps had not. In so doing it left the traces to signify its existence. Over a time the melted ice began to free again and the freezing went on for about one million years. Later approximately ten thousand years ago the earth started to warm again. This is what the scientists call the ice age. The traces are called “GLACIERS”. They happened over a period of time not just by a Eureka. These glaciers can be seen to date. The temperature was as low as 8 Celsius and the climate was not constant. It fluctuated. The ice age was studied by scientist, Louis Agassiz being among the first scientists. He made simple that the ice and initially they thought he was out of his senses. He explained that the boulders had been left by glaciers. They were made of a kind of rock that was not common to the area (granite) and hence his prove for not being formed there. They must have come from elsewhere. The majority of the ice age’s marks are on the northern hemisphere. The other proves for the existence of the ice age is by the clear existence of bedrocks that are polished, piles of sand and gravel, huge valleys that are believed to have been left by the ice age, and the course mountain tops as a result of the disintegration of the rocks due to contraction and expansion of the ice.

The land has been shaped (North America, Asia, and Europe) due to the long period of Ice age. Many animals that are extinct today but existed in the past centuries can be a clear indication of the existence of ice age. Today’s animals are different as by then the animals that existed. This can be proved by the painted pictures of such animals. They did this on the sides of their cave that they lived in during those days. Their skeletons are also evidence. These have been found in the caves too. There have been found the tools that the early man used like the hunters knives just lying next to the skeletons. These animals were wooly mammoth (became extinct in 10000BC), wooly rhinos, cave bears, bison, wolves, horses, among others. Most of them are today extinct due to climate change. It is believed that there has existed eleven ice ages and the latest called the “Great Ice Age” and was eleven thousand years ago and over a third of the earth was blanketed by ice. The ice age must have occurred due to the low temperature during those times. It never rained, but it only snowed. The earth also tilted away from the sun and the climate changed due to that. The sea levels dropped to by over thirty meters. A huge ice shit was narrowly escaped by Russia. The eclipse has changed over this period and it is as if the earth has moved closer to the sun than before. The movement of the earth closer to the sun has made the climate to change. The effect of this is very small but might have contributed to the melting of the Ice from the mountain tops. Now we are living in mini ice age. As the ice age and its cycle was known the scientists believe that it could return eventually. The long term climate might cause a severe ice than the past ice age. It does not mean the world would stop fighting warming. It might free even more. This is due to the global warming that is presently taking place. Early 1850, the climate changed again and began warming and the little ice age terminated at this time.

It has been shown by the scientists that the effect of ice age might return soon due to global warming. As more and more companies’ waste products are being produced. The companies’ wastes are majorly carbon dioxide. They cause global warming. The gases form a layer on the ozone layer and form a layer that blanket the earth. This layer absorbs the radiations to it to about ten meters. As the atmosphere gains heat, it gives out radiations to the earth below. The warming of the atmosphere has been as the result. The more the radiations are absorbed by the ozone layer the more the warmer the earth becomes.

Since in the history it has been found that the ice age rotates after about one thousand years, a sharp transition in the geology has been noted. There has been a long and non ending cool-up of the earth. At the same time winters are getting more and more in the regions in the northern America. This might be as reason of the heat coming from the interior of the earth and also as the effect of global warming.

The average temperature is increasing at a rate of one faraday over the last two centuries. The opposite of such happens when the snow and ice increases in the northern parts of the earth. Ice and snow being whit in color reflect the sun light and radiations. The reflection makes the precipitation to be high creating more snow. Snow being a reflector reflects sunlight and this cooling is becoming more rapid and cannot be reversed. More of the sunlight is reflected. The moisture that evaporates from the oceans condenses on the cooler mountain tops. The increase in volcanic activities that at times originate from under the sea is the major cause of the rapid evaporation. The atmosphere will be locked in an energized winter like pattern all the year round. This will result to the ice sheets expanding. More currents will carry a lot of moistures towards the north and dumping them over the ice hence increasing the ice. The ice will grow become big. The land, hills, will be filled by the ice as it intensifies.

Huge blocks of ice will fill greater part of the earth. Since the periods have been in a cycle the future ice might take thousands of years then will cease. After that the cycle starts and another gradual warming process that might take another over thousands of years. Study has proved that over a very short time the number of volcanic activities have increased. There is a decrease on the level on the ocean. This is quite evident as the tops of the mountains like, Antarctica and Greenland have an increase in ice amounts (surprisingly they were almost free in the last 50 years). There is a great rise in rainfall due to more evaporating moisture that is caused by the warm ocean currents. There has been a debate whether the ice age would return. A move to even larger blanket of ice is soon resulting. This will mark the end of this global warming that started

sin the last 50years.

Scientists have said that there has been a movement from the warmer environment and the world is moving towards the ice age period and is getting more server in the last few years. The same shift happened when Antarctica was covered by ice but in 34 years the ice melted as the scientists have said. The reflection of the sun’s radiations and light by the ice has accelerated the cooling. The depth of the ice has increased about twenty one thousand years ago. The glaciers in the from the north has expanded to far south. The climate change has caused create change. It is expected that the ice age will come back soon and this time round a worse one.

References

http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/ice_ages.htthe two diagrams are from the same site.