|
|
Article: Glaciologists drill polar ice to study Earth's thermostat. (scientific predictions of the next ice age)(includes a related article on the circulation pattern of the North Atlantic Ocean)
- Article from:
- Insight on the News
- Article date:
- August 12, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Scientists drilling in the Earth's polar regions are hoping to find some small clues to a big question: Are we headed into another ice age or are we racing irredeemably toward a period of global warming?
The answer is far from certain. Nonetheless, arctic expeditions are deicing a great deal of new information from cores obtained at two drilling sites in Greenland. Another expedition is underway in Antarctica, and a fourth is to begin there later this year.
Scientists know, for example, that for the past 800,000 years, the advance and retreat of global ice ages has been relatively constant: approximately 100,000 years per cycle, with only 10,000 or so ...