Are we heading into a new Ice Age ?

originally posted by: blargo

originally posted by: SolarMinimun
a reply to: Ben81

Seems the Mayan Calendar was more of an ice age marking calendar. We are definitely heading for cooler temperatures during the winters and summers for the next 30 years. Best case Mini Ice Age like the Dalton or Maunder Minimum.
Good series of videos from adapt 2030 on the subject of sunspot count and solar minimum connection.
Sunspots and Cooling Temperatures

Except we are not cooling. Looks like 2014 will be warmest year ever, so much for another ice age...
NOAA: 2014 warmest year on record so far

Blah blah blah. Do you actually still believe that??

We shattered cold weather records last winter, last spring, last summer, and this fall. And the winter looks to be a (polar) bear.

Continuing what was seen in 2013, the number of daily record-low temperatures outnumbered the number of record-high temperatures nationally in early 2014, according to NCDC statistics compiled by meteorologist Guy Walton of The Weather Channel.

www.weather.com...

Breaking News; it has just been discovered that the World extends beyond the borders of the contiguous USA. Which, in fact, is only a very small place and not really at all significant when discussing global temperatures

a reply to: AndyMayhew

To answer the actual question of the original posting:

a) no we are not heading into an Ice Age
b) without human effects, mostly alteration of the atmosphere with increased greenhouse gases, we might have been.

The "Milankovitch forcing" from astronomical orbital effects, peaked at about 8000 BC or thereabouts, and helped trigger changes in ocean circulation & ice which brought the world out of the Ice Age. However, it is decreasing since then, and in the absence of human activity, given historical records, it would be likely that sometime 'soon' (in geological times) the cryosphere would flip states and head back into the Ice Age state.

With human induced changes, we are heading into a climate regime which has not been present before.

If greenhouse gases were to stabilize at today's level (or maybe 20 years ago) then perhaps it would have been reasonably optimal and prevent an Ice Age, but the path is towards much higher emissions and greenhouse forcings, resulting in a Heat Age, as much warm above historical interglacial optimum, as the Ice Ages were below that optimum.

At present, the oceans have absorbed a substantial amount of heat and CO2 away from the surface where we live, so that the effects of our fossil fuel burning have been masked, this is only temporary, eventually that heat and carbon will come out.

Plus pollution (particulates) has also masked some of the warming as well.

Who knows, it gets very cold for a while then hot again, over and over. It might have something to do with the ocean or the moon/sun.

living in Britain all my life and can say without doubt that our winters on average have become warmer and warmer. It was so warm last year we didn't even have snow where I live.

Now I know we are "due" for an ice age in geological time, I'm pretty certain we aren't entering it now.
Also there is a high chance that man-made climate change might offset it permanently.

a reply to: Dr X

We are still in an ice age, it never ended. This is simply an interglacial period. The ice age has lasted 2.6 million years, and probably will not end any time soon.

a reply to: tallcool1

The planet will cool, due to global warming, because I am drinking water out of a plastic disposable bottle while driving my car to work.

I want the planet to stay the same as it is - therefore I am throwing out the microwave oven - been using it to warm my socks in the winter but they picked up the smell of the lasagne cooking besides them