The Climate Of The Future

Reading the interesting reports about the ancient warmer history of Antarctica I can’t help but wonder what if any is the influence of humanity on the climate changes. I don’t just mean the changes that occurred in the past, I mean the changes as the result of another cycle of global warming. We care for the planet obviously, but as the result of the ANDRILL indicate:

Antarctica’s ice sheets, so it seems, respond more sensitively to climate fluctuations than has been assumed. During warmer periods, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and its floating extension, the western Ross Ice Shelf, have shrunk substantially. Some 3.5 million years ago the ice seems to have disappeared completely for around 200,000 years. There were snow-capped mountains, alpine trees, gushing rivers, quiet lakes – the frozen continent was a place where you would love to go fishing or hiking, were it not for the midges.

If this information is correct, are we about to witness a very different world in the future? I suppose so. Does it mean trouble? It depends. Any major change is frightening at first, but if we aware of the possibilities our ability to prepare and balance the possible outcomes increases. I suppose more research will be done so the picture of the current changes in our world can develop. Lets wait for more information as to the process and the ways that we as the human race can cope with it.