Reply #67: Picture 2 to picture 1

[trotsky]

Yes, it would be scary, and one of the leading schools of thought is that global warming WILL lead to a new ice age. Right now what keeps Northern Europe warm is the flow of warm water coming from the Gulf Stream. The G.S. is actually just part of an enormous conveyor belt that stretches back and forth around the tip of South Africa between the Atlantic and Pacific. Melting polar ice in the north could threaten to disrupt the salinity of the North Atlantic, which could shut down the conveyor belt and stop the mild European winters.

We just don't know enough. And based on the geologic record, the climate appears to have the ability to flip from temperate to ice age within a decade.