Question:
I have read that global climate warmed quickly about 12,500 years ago. Could you comment on the possibility that it could do so again in the near future as a result of the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content?
I have read that global climate warmed quickly about 12,500 years ago. Could you comment on the possibility that it could do so again in the near future as a result of the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content?
Submitted by: Bob Wingfield
Answer:
The paleoclimate record is replete with evidence of such rapid and dramatic warmings. However, they are basically a feature of glacial or glacial-to-interglacial transition periods. Hence, we do not have even the remotest concern that such a climatic transtion could occur from the base state of the climate as it exists today.