Can current technology stop an ice age?

Question

If climatologists have such a great understanding what drives the climate, wouldn't it be possible to stop a catostrophic cooling period by pumping greater amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere or perhaps other greenhouse gases?

Answer 1

Actually no, and the reason is interesting and informative.

It is possible for changes in the Sun, called Milankovic cycles, to be so powerful they overcome changes in CO2.  That's how previous Ice Ages started and stopped.

How do we know it's not that now?  Simple.  We (duh) measure the Sun.  The Milankovic cycles aren't some magic.  They cause changes in solar radiation that would be EASILY measurable.

We've looked and they're not there.

"Recent oppositely directed trends in solar

climate forcings and the global mean surface

air temperature", Lockwood and Frolich (2007), Proc. R. Soc. A

doi:10.1098/rspa.2007.1880

http://www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/media/pro...

News article at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6290228.st...

The timing is also all wrong for a Milankovic cycle now, but the measured data is even better proof.

Answer 2

Probably not, but we don't know for sure.  There are no broadly accepted theories as to the cause of the various ice ages.

Answer 3

no technology can not stop what is going on now

but 5,000,000,000,000, trees planted across the planet  might help slow things down a bit

anyone that says there is not a environmental problem has there head in the sand and i can't wait till they are hungry and i have a farm full of food that was not turned into a housing development

Answer 4

NASA is noticing that activity on the Sun is slowing to a rate never measured before.

According to research by NASA solar physicist David Hathaway. "It's off the bottom of the charts," he says. "This has important repercussions for future solar activity."

This should keep temperatures on Earth colder until the year 2040.

And there is nothing that can be done, as it's the Sun that provides all warmth on Earth.  Man cannot effect the climate.

[Edit] CO2 is not a poison, it cannot kill you, it cannot suffocate you.  It's the lack of oxygen, the not level of co2 that kills.

Answer 5

hmm..interesting question..but hey y not..maybe it really can if some1 thinks about it and invents something right..?!!?

Answer 6

No they can't i just saw a t.v. show on that very same subject and it is beyond man. PS i think we are starting to have it now,HA i live in Wisconsin USA and we have had a real bad winter with alot of snow and real cold temp.

Answer 7

Yes, if ever the world comes into a situation where there is a potential ice age, we could stop it by injecting CO2 into the atmosphere.  This may be necessary in a few million years, so I'm glad you're thinking ahead.

Answer 8

dude...

one: CO2 cuases suffication...its easy to breath in but it will some how sufficate you

two: the way that half the world is concerned...we wont have an ice age for a long time, one of the biggest topics is globle warming, is it not?