Human carbon emissions may have halted a looming new ice age, study finds
A new study published in Science shows that rising carbon emissions have reversed a 2,000-year expansion of the Barnes Ice Cap, preventing the onset of another ice age.
Using vegetation fossils and beryllium-10 exposure dating, scientists reconstructed the history of the Barnes Ice Cap, the last remnant of the once-vast Laurentide Ice Sheet. The ice cap reached its modern size roughly 3,600 years ago and began a slow advance around 2,000 years ago, indicating a potential new glaciation period. However, aerial photographs show the ice started retreating in the 1960s, coinciding with a sharp rise in carbon emissions, and it has since withdrawn at an average of 4 meters per year.
Lead author Nicolás Young and co-researchers argue that this modern retreat has undone centuries of ice growth, effectively preventing the next ice age. Commentators such as Andrew Wickert and Meredith Kelly note the findings support long-standing climate theories and highlight the need for further global comparisons.
Why it matters
The research links human-driven warming directly to a reversal of natural ice-age cycles, underscoring climate change's far-reaching impact.
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