Full Text Sections
Abstract
Introduction
Ice, the Museum of Climate
Ice as Thermometer
The Greenland Weather Report
Climate, from the Bottom Down
Climate’s Control Mechanism
Three Climate Modes
Tampering with Our Stable Mode?
Climate and Choices
Bibliography

Sample Illustrations
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July-August, Volume 87, No. 4

Rapid Climate Change

New evidence shows that earth’s climate can change dramatically in only a decade. Could greenhouse gases flip that switch?

Keywords:
earth climate history, climate cycle, glacial ice-core, anthropogenic effects, Greeland, Antarctica, paleoclimate, hydrologic cycle, ocean-sediment core

Kendrick Taylor

Abstract:
Much to the surprise of investigators, evidence is mounting that major changes in the earth’s climate can take place in a very short time. Data from ice cores and ocean sediments suggest, for example, that 11,650 years ago the climate in Greenland switched from ice-age conditions to the current relatively warm conditions (a warming of 5 to 10 degrees Celsius on average) in only 40 years. The author describes the oceanic currents that influence climate and establish its stability, as well as “triggers” that may perturb changes -- including the possibility that “greenhouse” warming could invoke a rapid switch.




<< soms links are already obsolete,
   updated links on bibliography page.
   IdP 30-01-2001

On Polar Ice Coring at Summit, Greenland:
"The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) no longer supports science in Greenland"
http://pico.unl.edu/green.htm