A drilling analysis carried out in Antarctica conditions the "waiting period" in controlling carbon dioxide emissions. The scientists warn: the lack of control will bring the end closer
Scientists pull out the ice sample in Antarctica for testing
The film "The Day After Tomorrow" is causing a stir in the USA - it presents a horror scenario in which the world enters a new ice age, after a giant storm that causes global warming. A study published by researchers from ten European countries, in the latest issue of the journal Nature, estimates that the next ice age is not that close. According to them, the human race will enjoy another 15 thousand years of a comfortable climate, if only it manages to control the amount of carbon dioxide it emits into the atmosphere.
The earth goes through cycles of ice ages. Warm periods prevail between them. Each ice age lasts about 100 thousand years. A warm period lasts about ten thousand years. The warm period we are in began 12 thousand years ago. That is why some scientists believe that the next ice age is near.
Several researchers teamed up to test this claim, drilling extremely deep into one of the Antarctic ice caps. The reason for this is the special property of ice: it preserves the concentrations of gases that were in the atmosphere at the time it was formed, such as the concentration of carbon dioxide. After eight years of preparations and drilling to a depth of three kilometers, ice samples were extracted documenting what happened in the atmosphere about 740 thousand years ago.
The scientists want to drill deeper
The analysis of the samples shows that in the last 740 thousand years the earth has gone through eight ice ages (called Glacials) and eight warm ages (called Interglacials). It was also found that, in terms of gas concentrations, we are living in a period reminiscent of the conditions that prevailed on Earth 430 thousand years ago. According to the researchers, a prominent feature of that period was the long continuation of the warm period, between the ice ages - 28 thousand years, not just ten thousand. From this, the researchers conclude that the comfortable climate that prevails today may last for at least another 15 years.
However, the researchers emphasize that the analysis of the samples shows that every time a new ice age began, there was a significant change in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The rate of carbon dioxide is the highest day that has been in the last 440 thousand years. Therefore, the assessment that the next ice age is far away is a conditional assessment. The emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by humans may significantly shorten the time of the favorable climate in the world.
Now the scientists plan to drill another 100 meters. The problem is that the drilling site is considered one of the most difficult in the world; Intense snowstorms occur there and the average temperature is minus 54 degrees. That is why drilling was limited to two months a year - December and January. If the researchers manage to drill even deeper, they will have ice samples that were formed about 900 thousand years ago and maybe more.
