I'm not disputing global warming, and I realize how the same argument might be used by someone who is. But what I'm saying is that it's disingenuous of you—deliberately or accidentally—to refer to an ice age being the likely result of this climatic change.
An ice age is a very specific thing. It's not a few years of cold weather. It's not a few hundred, nor a few thousand years of cold weather. It's not even a few million. It's
several million years of globally depressed temperatures, organized roughly into glacial and interglacial periods.
The best science to date indicates that we're in an interglacial period now,
during an ice age. In fact, all of recorded history—and indeed, possibly all of civilization itself—seems to have taken place during this period. It's quite plausible that global warming might have an effect on bringing forward the commencement of the next glacial period. But that is not the beginning of a new ice age.
For the public, which doesn't necessarily understand the distinction between an ice age and a glacial period, it is vitally important to make the distinction. While I can hypothesize that you probably mean either a glacial period, or a regional change in climate, a member of the public might equate your statements with the coming of 100 million years of near-zero (°C) temperatures in Europe (i.e. an ice age), and be totally mistaken.
Though I haven't thoroughly examined it, I suspect that your data is just fine. I'm interested in making sure that other readers are getting the benefit of that data. Rather than being incredulous that global warming is real (because an ice age is such a drastic thing), or worse, panicking about their impending doom, the public needs to see it for what it is.
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Originally Posted by Greg Perkins
Wow, am I the only person who is confused to the subject? I expected to read a thread about how FIRST has grown, and how it will continue to grow in the future. I do not see how FIRST has anything to do with earth's tempature, and global warming. Your thread title is misleading, and while I struggle to understand your points, I think this is just another thread created to stir up the coals before kick-off. Don't you guys have anything better to do than sit here and post threads about topics that are irrelevant to FIRST?
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How about moving it to Chit-Chat?