On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:06:14 -0500, kT wrote:

David wrote:

Science in the '70s was a quite different animal. That being said, an
ice age is still in the cards.

No, it's not. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration at 383 ppm and
rising at 2 to 3 ppm/year almost certainly forbids that, at least until
the following cycle after things equilibrate in 100,000 years or so.


''Global warming could plunge North America and Western Europe into a
deep freeze, possibly within only a few decades.

That's the paradoxical scenario gaining credibility among many climate
scientists. The thawing of sea ice covering the Arctic could disturb
or even halt large currents in the Atlantic Ocean. Without the vast
heat that these ocean currents deliver--comparable to the power
generation of a million nuclear power plants--Europe's average
temperature would likely drop 5 to 10°C (9 to 18°F), and parts of
eastern North America would be chilled somewhat less. Such a dip in
temperature would be similar to global average temperatures toward the
end of the last ice age roughly 20,000 years ago.''

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...mar_arctic.htm