Friday, March 13, 2009

Change In Earth's Orbit Was Catastrophic



Science Daily: Wind Shifts May Stir Carbon Dioxide From Antarctic Depths.

Many scientists think that the end of the last ice age was triggered by a change in Earth's orbit that caused the northern part of the planet to warm. ...

The scientists say that changes in the westerlies may have been triggered by two competing events in the northern hemisphere about 17,000 years ago. The earth's orbit shifted, causing more sunlight to fall in the north, partially melting the ice sheets that then covered parts of the United States, Canada and Europe.

3 comments:

Quantum_Flux said...

Perhaps that shift was the cyclic part of a North-South wobble?

Anonymous said...

Ye Gods

Do they ever think about what they write?

In terms of gravity and Newtonian mechanics, the earth cannot shift its orbit within the time frame proposed.

Tom Marking said...

I'm curious concerning the particular age being used, 17,000 years ago. It is my understanding that the time of glacial maximum during the last Ice Age (i.e., Wurm glaciation) was roughly 18,000 years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%BCrm_glaciation

If this change in the winds happened 1,000 years after the maximum extent of the glaciers then why did it take another 5,000 years for the ice to begin to recede? I'd take this article with a huge grain of salt.