Shades of 1975. Once upon a time the DOOM! story of choice was the coming ice age. Actually, at least a couple of times. Now it’s back, at least in one story.
Filling the atmosphere with greenhouse gases associated with global warming could push the planet into a new ice age, scientists have warned.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that 630 million years ago the earth had a warm atmosphere full of carbon dioxide but was completely covered with ice, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The scientists studied limestone rocks and found evidence that large amounts of greenhouse gas coincided with a prolonged period of freezing temperatures.
So maybe some scientists are looking for grants to study cooling and made some scary statements to the T of I to enhance their chances of receiving said grants. Maybe they said something pretty tame and the T of I ran with it. Maybe they made it all up, which is what the alarmist accuse skeptics of doing about the 1975 reports. (No reputable scientists were involved in the making of these reports…)
Now, the writers are right about CO2 being far higher in the distant past and they are right about the occasional ice age happening, despite the CO2 levels. However, way back when, it was mostly much warmer than now (by as much as 10C) and mostly very very green.
So, if anything, the story shows that CO2 has nothing to do with tipping points dropping us into an ice age. It also points to CO2 not being a primary driver of climate.
My take on the story? Zzzzzz……
Another View on Climate 