There were 4 major warm periods between long episodes of glacial "ice ages". A big difference in the warm stages is that the current one has atmospheric carbon dioxide about 33% higher than the first 3, and is rising rapidly, and ice world-wide is melting significantly.
Mountain thawing is causing major rockfalls, the sea level is rising and droughts and violent weather are prevalent.
It is about 20,000 years past the peak of the recent Pleistocene ice age, but enough ice is present that centuries of melting could raise the ocean level 200 feet. (The highest point in Florida is 345 feet above sea level.)
USA Today: Feb.17, 2006, from Science Journal, reports Greenland ice is melting twice as fast as 10 years ago. Researchers estimate that the melt in 2005 produced enough water to supply Los Angeles for 220 years. The EPA expects the ocean to rise at least 2 feet by 2,100. A United Nations climate panel suggested that temperatures could rise 2-10 degrees in the next 100 years.
Wall Street Journal: Feb. 10, 2006, shows a graph of the last 1,000. years' temperature fluctuations, and shows a sharp, accelerating rise during the last 100. years.
The world population is now over 6.5 billion; The U. S. Census Bureau estimates it will be over 9.2 billion in 2050. So, "Good Luck" controlling Global Warming, and New Orleans, please DO NOT re-build below sea level!
