Herself’s Houston Garden

Current global warming scientists have been claiming that the climate will rapidly change, ice caps melting in 20 or so years, coastal cities drowning in the rising seas. It might not take that long.

. . .
The proof of an extreme cooling within a short number of years 12,700 years ago was attained in sediments of the volcanic lake “Meerfelder Maar” in the Eifel, Germany. The seasonally layered deposits allow to precisely determine the rate of climate change.

With a novel combination of microscopic research studies and modern geochemical scanner procedures the scientists were able to successfully reconstruct the climatic conditions even for individual seasons. And so it was particularly the changes in the wind force and direction during the winter half-year, which caused the climate to topple over into a completely different mode within one year after a short instable phase of a few decades. . . . [ read more Tracking down abrupt climate change ]

We know that the ocean currents, which keep Europe and the west coast of the United States mild can and have changed rapidly in the past. We think rapid climate change has to do with the turning on and off of this current.

The amount of salinity in the ocean can alter currents. Large amounts of fresh water from melting ice caps might do this. We just don’t know.

See also:
The science of abrupt climate change