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Quote (Stu @ Dec. 09 2009,09:22) Quote (WhatIsTrue @ Dec. 09 2009,09:04) To play devil's advocate, while the warming of the planet would certainly have severe climate consequences, aren't they more manageable than perhaps another mini or major ice age? Wouldn't mankind, and land creatures in generally fare much worse if much of the planet's land masses were covered in ice again? To the extent that we can ward off another cyclical ice age, isn't that to our benefit?
I mentioned this already, but there is a case to be made that by combating global warming we could paradoxically be saving Western Europe from an ice age.Stuart
If I remember correctly, we were headed for an ice age – eventually. I imagine it would have been at least several thousand more years which would have given us quite a lot of time from the present.I don't think the hypothetical elimination of the next ice age at some indeterminate point in the future is a positive trade for warming driven climate change today.
I don't think millions of people in Bangladesh would think so either, nor the billions (I mean billions, not millions) of people dependent on rain fed agriculture or glacial melt water – in the event those things cease to support them sufficiently.
I read an article recently where a politician from the government of Bangladesh was interviewed, saying he wanted the rest of the world to be prepared to take 20 million refugees from Bangladesh over the coming 4 decades as they lose land usability to the sea. I don't think for one minute that this country would rush to commit to acommodate a large number of those people and yet if I were in the shoes the Bangladesh people stand in – as soon as you told me no, I'd start raising an army to fight for what I need – if the people are doomed anyway and through little direct fault of their own – they might as well get a chance to fight for what they need?
I complete agree that an ice age would be a big problem for the developed Northern hemisphere (which is also suffering problems elsewhere for indigenous peoples due to melting ice and permafrost) but it didn't seem like an imminent threat to me and still doesn't.
The debate will be over soon enough I suspect.
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