Relax. The next ice age is not likely to hit for a minimum of 1,500 years thanks to high levels of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, according to Nature Geoscience.
The UN’s weather department said that the main gases blamed for global warming reached record levels last year and will linger in the atmosphere for decades even if all emissions were stopped today.
An ice age referred to a period when there is a long-term reduction in the earth’s surface and atmospheric temperature, which leads to the growth of ice sheets and glaciers.
According to scientists, there have been at least five ice ages on earth. During ice ages there are cycles of glaciation with ice sheets both advancing and retreating.
Officially, the earth has been in an interglacial, or warmer period, for the last 10,000 to 15,000 years, and estimates vary on how long such periods last.
The study based on variations in the earth’s orbit and rock samples was conducted by academics at Cambridge University, University College London, the University of Florida and Norway’s University of Bergen.
The world is forecast to grow hotter as greenhouse gases continue to rise, increasing threats such as extreme weather events and sea level rise.
Scientists have warned that global temperature rise should be limited to within 2 degrees Celsius to avoid the worst effects of climate change but delays in curbing emissions growth are putting the planet at risk.
