The cause behind Antarctica’s ice shelves breaking up might be the upside-down rivers of the warm ocean water. This lead to the rise in sea levels. There’s a new study which shows that in the past, the increase in the sea ice of Antarctica contributed in a way to the ice ages.
By using computer simulations, the research took a look at the past changes that happened during the glacial periods and found out that the previous increases in the sea ice levels may have changed the circulation of the ocean. This thing led to a reverse greenhouse effect because the carbon dioxide levels in the ocean also increased, and levels in the air decreased.
One important question is what caused the Earth to have ice ages. The co-author of the study and professor at the University of Chicago, Malte Jansen, stated that they are confident that the carbon balance between the ocean and the atmosphere must have changed at some point, but they don’t know for sure why or how.
The last ice age ended at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, which’s 11.700 years ago. That’s because glaciers have periodically grown, and then they got smaller. Scientists believe that these changes on the orbit of Earth are the reason for the Earth’s cooling, but there are also other factors.
The most normal explanation is that there was a change in the way carbon was divided between the ocean and the atmosphere. Again, they have no idea how or when.
Scientists also believe that there was a mini ice age, which happened about 12.800 years ago. It looks like an asteroid impact changed the Northern Hemisphere, which was the reason behind the Younger Dryas climate event.
Doris’s passion for writing started to take shape in college where she was editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. Even though she ended up working in IT for more than 7 years, she’s now back to what he always enjoyed doing. With a true passion for technology, Doris mostly covers tech-related topics.