Climate change is an inevitable process that has occurred for many years and will continue to occur in the future. One of the questions regarding climate change is whether the ice age is completely over or if human beings are living in a period where glaciations can still occur. The last glaciations occurred 11 billion years ago in what was known as the Pleistocene epoch. Scientists are not sure if people are currently living in the post-glacial period. They, however, believe that the increased global warming experienced on earth could imply that the ice age is impending. The increased global temperature means that the amount of moisture in the air also increases leading to the high amount of snowfall. When the level of snowfall is greater than their rate of melting, accumulation of ice could be experienced especially in the Polar Regions.
The probability of another glaciation occurring within the next 20,000-30,000 is still low because of the elevated levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that act to delay glaciations. However, after between two million to ten million years, the likelihood of another glaciation occurring will be high because of the increased global temperatures that will lead to accumulation of snowfall and subsequently, the non-melted snow. Other factors that might influence the occurrence of another glaciation include the amount of radiation reaching the surface of the earth, gases, and aerosols present in the atmosphere, the extent to which the earth reflects radiation, and the cloud cover. All these are important in influencing the global temperature on earth that is important in influencing the behavior of ice.
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Human practices that affect global warming will also determine the occurrence of global glaciations in the many years to come. Such activities include emission of greenhouse gases and deforestation among others. In conclusion, it is still difficult to determine if humanity is living in the post-glacial era, but certain indicators such as increased global temperature are proving that human beings are far from the ice age.
