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As far as I can tell the slowdown or cessation of the gulf stream will not lead to an "ice age" but to a cooling of north-western Europe. The climate there will
by the_third_wave 5y ago
As far as I can tell the slowdown or cessation of the gulf stream will not lead to an "ice age" but to a cooling of north-western Europe. The climate there will be more comparable to that of the southern part of Alaska. While to the inhabitants of this region it may feel like an "ice age" the difference is that in an ice age the global average temperature goes down while this is not the case for the above scenario. It is quite possible - likely, even - for some regions to end up with lower average temperatures while the average global temperature increases.
- cs702 5y agoMy understanding is that we're already in an ice age -- specifically, we're in an inter-glacial period of an ice age. What you call the "cooling" of northwest Europe would be a glacial period within this ice age.
- the_third_wave 5y agoWe're in an interglacial, awaiting a new ice age. If history [1] is anything to go by we're at the trailing end of the warmest period of the Holocene epoch [2]. Depending on how this interglacial develops the temperature will either gradually decrease into a new ice age (i.e. follow the same pattern as the Pleistocene) or rebound for a second peak (like the Pliocene, Eocene and Paleocene interglacials). At the end of the Holocene interglacial the ice will return for the remainder of the epoch. [1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Co2_glacial_cycles_800k.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Co2_glac... [2] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Holocene_Temperature_Variations.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Holocene...
- cs702 5y agoI believe you are using the terminology incorrectly. According to Wikipedia, we currently are in an an ice age that began approximately 2.6 million years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciation Within this ice age, we've had glacial and inter-glacial periods. For example, Europe's "Little Ice Age" was a glacial period within this ice age: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age Currently, we're in an inter-glacial period.
- the_third_wave 5y agoCould be, I interpret "interglacial" literally, as being "between two ice ages". Were we in an actual ice age the same etymology would produce the term "intraglacial", a word I've never seen but that might be because written language was not yet a thing when there were people living in that circumstance.
- mullingitover 5y ago> Could be, I interpret "interglacial" literally, as being "between two ice ages" Pretty sure the literal interpretation of 'interglacial' is 'between glaciation.' Literal 'between two ice ages' would be 'inter-ice age.'
- shkkmo 5y agoThere is a conflict between the popular and scientific meaning of "ice age" that seems to be tripping the two of you up. If you are going to get into a semantic debate about related meanings, you should clarify the specific meaning you ate intending.
- the_third_wave 5y agoI don't think there is a need for any debate, it is after all clear what we mean: an ice age is the whole cycle (interglacial + glacial), glacial is the period of maximum ice coverage, interglacial is the period of minimum ice coverage. In the common vernacular "ice age" equals the glacial period.