Surely that's a bit sensationalist?
Not really. Ice cores reveal growing evidence of sudden, dramatic shifts in climate over the past 10 000 years that have occurred within a few decades as a result of "flips" in ocean circulation.
Are there any other cataclysms in the offing?
One fear is that the entire West Antarctic ice sheet might collapse, sliding into the ocean and raising sea levels worldwide by several meters. Even the most pessimistic experts say this is only a worry if the world warms by about 4 degrees C, which is outside the range of mainstream predictions for the next century. And even then, what glaciologists mean by a collapse is still a slow process. It would take several hundred years for all the ice to slide into the sea.
Not really. Ice cores reveal growing evidence of sudden, dramatic shifts in climate over the past 10 000 years that have occurred within a few decades as a result of "flips" in ocean circulation.
Are there any other cataclysms in the offing?
One fear is that the entire West Antarctic ice sheet might collapse, sliding into the ocean and raising sea levels worldwide by several meters. Even the most pessimistic experts say this is only a worry if the world warms by about 4 degrees C, which is outside the range of mainstream predictions for the next century. And even then, what glaciologists mean by a collapse is still a slow process. It would take several hundred years for all the ice to slide into the sea.
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