While we are justly concerned about the dangers of global warming and the destructive effect it would have on our contemporary societies, we should also recognize that another period of severe global cooling—and the return of another ice age—would actually pose a much greater threat to human civilization. In fact, it is entirely possible that the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by industrial societies will actually prevent the return of another ice age that might have otherwise returned in the near future. And because higher levels of carbon dioxide bring about significant
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We are currently due for another Ice Age. One where polar ice sheets in North America (hundreds of feet high) would completely wipe out Canada and bury the entire northern half of the US. The landscape around the world would be altered drastically, making most of it inhabitable. Deserts will span unimaginable distances, the Sahara alone would engulf half of Africa. Yet all of this would come to pass over the course of thousands of years.
