A New Ice Age: is it Possible

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Recommended: Global warming and its effects on the environment

The “Go Green” lifestyle trend has emerged as a new way for humans to prevent a possible catastrophic environmental event that, some if not all, people believe will occur because of Global Warming. The people that have chosen to change their habits of recycling garbage, buying fuel efficient cars instead of 70's style gas guzzlers or live in a Eco-friendly house have spent some of their time researching what lies ahead for the human race if Global warming is not addressed. The scientific community has predicted many different environmental impact scenarios based on Global Warming, such as runaway heat waves and coastal flooding, but the one scenario that is most likely to come to pass for our planet is a new ice age. The addition of fresh water to the Atlantic Ocean caused by melting ice caps will change the current dynamics that are responsible for northern latitudes moderate climate and the added solar energy absorption in the atmosphere by greenhouse gasses will create convection currents and cool the Earth’s climate, pushing it into the next ice age. The theory that Earth is headed for a new ice age has been a topic of discussion in the scientific community, but was not discussed by the public until the release of the movie The Day After Tomorrow, and since its release in 2006, it has been viewed by more than 30 million adults. The movie has some base of scientific facts with a dash of creative liberty added by the screenwriters. The National Science Foundation funded a study, performed by Anthony Leiserowitz of Decision Research, to explore the movies impact on public opinion in regards to climate change. The study conducted two nationwide surveys, one a week before, and one four weeks after the movie’s release. The resul... ... middle of paper ... ...i, X., . . . Johnson, C. A. (Eds.). (2001). Climate change 2001: The scientific basis : contribution of Working Group I to the third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press. Palastanga, V., Van der Schrier, G., Weber, S. L., Kleinen, T., Briffa, K. R., & Osborn, T. J. (2011). Atmosphere and ocean dynamics: contributors to the European Little Ice Age? Climate Dynamics, (36), 973-987. Schiermeier, Q. (2004, September 2). Disaster movie highlights transatlantic divide. Retrieved November 6, 2013, from Proquest website: ezproxy.bellevue.edu:80/loginf?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/204513922?accountid=28125 Snook, J. (2008). Ice Age Extinction : Cause and Human Consequences. Algora Pub. Weaver, A. J., & Hillaire-Marcel, C. (2004). Global warming and the next ice age. Science, 304(5669), 400-402.

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