•1 min read•from Oceanography News -- ScienceDaily
Global warming could trigger the next ice age
Our take
Recent research has identified a critical feedback loop in Earth's carbon cycle that may lead to an unexpected consequence of global warming: the onset of another ice age. As temperatures rise, nutrient-rich runoff promotes plankton blooms in the ocean, which sequester significant amounts of carbon. However, under low-oxygen conditions, this process can accelerate, resulting in a dramatic cooling effect on the planet.
Scientists have uncovered a missing feedback in Earth’s carbon cycle that could cause global warming to overshoot into an ice age. As the planet warms, nutrient-rich runoff fuels plankton blooms that bury huge amounts of carbon in the ocean. In low-oxygen conditions, this process can spiral out of control, cooling Earth far beyond its original state. While this won’t save us from modern climate change, it may explain Earth’s most extreme ancient ice ages.
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