how do ice ages affect the climate around the world?
443894
an ice age increases the coverage of ice on the planet which obviously makes it colder.. but also means that radiation from the sun is reflected back into the atmosphere making it cooler again and perpetuating the ice age. precipitation also decreases, ie it rains and snows less (antartica is the driest continent in the world). wind is produced by air currents which are created by warm air rising in various patterns around the globe, so wind patterns would alter which would also affect the climate. additionally ocean currents would be altered by the increase of ice and colder waters, which would again alter the climates in maritime areas
688196
Although the current human-induced high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere are thought to be unprecedented in the recent geological record, some scientists argue that it's possible the changes we are making by pumping CO2 into the atmosphere could ultimately help usher in the next ice age.
539215
Increasing wind strength and resulting storm damage will be a global problem. An increase in desertification will hit the inland countries, alterations to the sea level will affect coastal countries.\n\nThe cold temperate zone will actually get colder, less habitable - affecting developed countries only. If the warming  cuts off the gulf stream, the pendulum might swing back and cause glaciation - an ice age. While this will directly affect the developed countries, the developing countries will have to cope with yet less available water. A lose-lose situation...
3501
Depends on how you look at it..we seem to be in the effects of global warming..that does mean that the planet as a whole is warming up... but there are areas..where..global warming means more severe temperatures and weather as well..it certainly is hard to tell what the planet is doing on its own and what exactly we as humans have done to cause changes..I would say nope we are not near another ice age..it really wasn't that long ago that we did have an ice age..
1077141
i would suspect that rainfall would decrease. the lower temperatures would result in less evaporation and the resultant precipitation. also, more water would become trapped in the ice caps. \n\nwe dont need to worry about this though as the trend suggests that things will get hotter rather than colder, despite the fact that we are in an ice age.
359037
Natural warming/cooling of the earth as it progresses through it's life cycle.  Effects of civilization on global warming may be measurable, but it is hardly signifigant when compared to the forces of nature and the tendency of our planet's temperature to fluctuate through ice ages and periods of warmer climes.
180496
Massive climate disturbance. Less ice will mean the Earth will reflect less sunlight back into space. Habitats, therefore life forms will disappear. Our climate will most likely be ireversibly changed. More heat will mean the ice caps have virtually nil chance of reforming for probably thousands or even millions of years. Flooding probably. Climate change will hit. Areas now receiving lots of rain will probably get less and vice versa. Warm ecosysytems will shift towards the poles, displacing plants and animals already there. Summers will be longer, hotter and drier; spring will come earlier and winters will be shorter and less cold. Cataclysmic changes are awaiting future generations unless these trends are reversed. This will be no picnic.
267704
You take all the temperatures across the globe and average them out and compare to the same day and time every year and when the average is steadily getting higher, like it is, its called global warming.\n\nThe ice caps start to melt, sea level rises, climate changes.  Just a whole lot of fun stuff like that.
250515
dude educate your self before you make a broad statement like that. please dont be ignorant. in my opinion is it doesn't exist. because think about it we are coming out of an ice age. it makes sense doesn't it? fact: there have been ice ages. fact: there is a lot of ice in ice ages. so if you know about water then you know the same amount of it is here that was here when the earth began so literally it is dinosaurs piss. well during an ice age lots of stuff is covered in water/ice ( i know i live in Minnesota and it is known that it was fully covered with ice.). so where is all the water? in ice bergs, glaciers, etc. so it would make sense that to leave an ice age most things would melt right? so they are still melting they will finish melting and cover parts of the world, then it will slowly freeze causing an ice age. why would humans make that big of a difference? we are insignificant to the world.(everyone in the world could fit in Texas and it would only be as densely populated as NY city). so our vehicles and combustible engines couldn't have that big of an effect. but you say "what about the ozone thinning?" well i am not saying it hasn't but it was because of the CFC's(chloral floral carbons) which broke up the ozone by attaching to ozone molecules. but the CFC's are no longer around. the ozone is healing itself as it is meant too. their was no real hole only a thinning which is also bad. but now it is closing up and returning to normal. if you think that the co2 we produced cant be good well think about it it isn't that much and while the earth was cooling after being created it released tons of co2. so what people will notice in the next 1-9000 years is it will warm up but in that time it will also cool down and eventually there will be an ice age. just because the great human race is here doesn't mean that the earth will stop having ice ages as it has done by its self for billions of years. think about it. am i a genius or what i mean i just looked at what has happened in history wow who would have thought history would repeat its self
883188
The theory that the world was once ice that you are talking about is called snow ball earth. Off the top of my head i can not remember the names of the scientists that came up with the theory. The claimed that they found evidence of rocks deformed by ice in Africa (near the equator). Which was not disbuted. The problem is that once the earth was covered in ice how did it melt? There are several theories to this but i dont really believe them. One is that volcanics in areas of weak ice erupted masses of co2 which allowed for thew atmosphere to rapidly (a few hundred thousand years). But on the other hand the solar radiation (i.e heat) would have been reflected by the ice. For more informatio look it up on ther web. \n\nIn the earths history there have been  many phases of glacial (cold) and interglacial periods so what you are saying is theoretically correct. However there is undisbuted evidence that we have accelarated the proccess of global warming. Naturally these cycles of heating and cooling take thousands of years but we have seen increases of 1-2 degrees in a few decades which, according to records is unprecedented.
1063451
We've known for decades that the earth is in in a perpetual state otemperate fluctuation.  Over thousands of years, the earth has seen numerous ice ages and thaws.  Our fear of this change is largely due to incomplete or imprecise data.  Humans didn't start acurately measuring GLOBAL temperature trends until the 1960s, and the first trend they saw was cooling.  I predict that in 40-100 years, we'll see another slight cooling cycle.  Remember, average global temperature has only warmed a fraction of a degree.
1168895
(m)\n\nThe difference between weather and climate is a measure of time. Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere "behaves" over relatively long periods of time. \n\nWhen we talk about climate change, we talk about changes in long-term averages of daily weather. Today, children always hear stories from their parents and grandparents about how snow was always piled up to their waists as they trudged off to school. Children today in most areas of the country haven't experienced those kinds of dreadful snow-packed winters, except for the Northeastern U.S. in January 2005. The change in recent winter snows indicate that the climate has changed since their parents were young. \n\nIf summers seem hotter lately, then the recent climate may have changed. In various parts of the world, some people have even noticed that springtime comes earlier now than it did 30 years ago. An earlier springtime is indicative of a possible change in the climate. \n\naddition to long-term climate change, there are shorter term climate variations. This so-called climate variability can be represented by periodic or intermittent changes related to El Niño, La Niña, volcanic eruptions, or other changes in the Earth system
501874
The next ice age is not going to happen for a very long time, there was only one a few million years ago. What could make it happen is a nuclear war or asteroid collision with the earth.
706890
Ice cores:\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleoclimatology
354465
Actually both are true.  However, global warming and an impending ice age will not cancel each other out, as far as, average temperatures are concerned.\n\nGlobal warming, whether caused by mankind or nature, will usher in another global ice age.\n\nAlthough this sounds contradictory, there is an explanation that I will attempt to explain:\n\nAtlantic ocean currents circulate from the warmer southern Atlantic ocean northward to the colder waters.\n\nAs the warm waters flow north, they cool down, and thus, begin to sink deeper into the colder northern Atlantic waters.\n\nThis colder water then continues to flow southward, and thus, begins to warm up again the closer it gets to the equator, effectively creating a self-sustaining flow.\n\nAs this colder water warms up, it begins to rise toward the surface where it continues to get warmer.\n\nThen, these warmer waters are caught into the northern flow\nwhere they will eventually begin to cool down again, sink, and continue the flow back southward.\n\nIt is this flowing current from warm to cold to warm again that regulates our weather systems.\n\nNow then, as the Earth warms up because of global warming (manmade or otherwise,) the Atlantic current is in danger of being disrupted and stopped.\n\nWhy?  Because as the northern Atlantic waters warm up, there will be a point at which the northern waters are too warm for the water to cool and thus sink.\n\nOnce the northern waters stop sinking, the whole process will come to a screeching halt.  Therefore, no more Atlantic current.\n\nNo more Atlantic current will then halt the process of "warmer" waters from flowing northward.\n\nOnce this massive amount of warm, energy filled waters stops flowing north, the Northern Hemisphere will then start cooling down enough to mark the beginning of a new ice age. \n\nHope this helps...\n\n-AwareOne\nAwareones@yahoo.com
305628
many different factors, one being us. Humans speed the natural process of global warming, just like an ice age, the earth every few million years goes through a process of warming, but greenhouse gases and other things that humans do have been speeding up the process. However, we are not the ones that cause it, since it's a natural cycle, so basically this was bound to happen. This has nothing to do with the end of the world or anything crazy like that. Some theories suggest that this will bring another ice age (a lot of water evaporates and creates a thick layer of clouds, preventing the sun from reaching the surface...the temperature gets colder and an ice age occurs. We will probably not live to see these events since they happen over a Long period of time.
720744
How about the effects of globalization on the developing world?\n\nThe effect of global warming on the Arctic