" Ice Age " evidence !

This summer just ended was the hottest since we started keeping records in 1910.   It delivered a mixed bag of weather conditions and we not only saw a day temperature of 46 c, we saw destructive bush fires and raging floods - and Tornadoes !

All that seems to support the theory that the seven billion people on planet Earth are heating the planet by burning fossil fuels.   Predictions for the future are dire.   If we continue on our wasteful ways we will see changed weather patterns that will include more droughts and crop failures.   We are already facing food shortages, and despite China's " one child " policy, there is the expectation that humans will top the ten billion people level in a few years time.

It is all rather depressing, seeing that the measures that have been put in place are not expected to drop temperature levels one iota - but they are pushing up the price of electricity and flowing through into costs that are making our products uncompetitive on the world markets.   We are a planet beset by civil war in many countries, religious bigotry leading to ideological conflict within the same races of people, and grinding poverty that results in many children failing to survive to reach five years of age.

The annoying thing is that on the world wide political scene we see countless examples of political differences being used to avoid decisions that could improve the human lot.  Attaining power is considered more important than reaching consensus on plans that would deliver a better standard of living.  In many cases, attaining power relates directly to personal riches - and so we see massive corruption siphoning off the wealth that should be spread more evenly through the populations.

There is little happening to cause us to expect that things will  change for the better anytime soon.  Human nature seems to set humans on a course of conflict between nations - and few manage to exist in perfect harmony with their fellow citizens.    We have progressed little from the time that people lived in caves and attacked one another with spears and clubs.

Now a new find has thrown fresh doubt that we humans are the cause of global warming, and that will set back any hope of progress in reducing the increase in carbon dioxide further.

French scientists drilling for deep core samples in the ice of Antarctica have discovered a surge in CO2 levels 10,000 years ago, when the earth was coming out of an ice age.  Air trapped in those samples contained CO2 at levels that we would today consider catastrophic and in all probability, it was this increase in carbon dioxide that caused the ice to melt and the glaciers retreat, and make the earth the hospitable place it is today.

The big question is - what caused that increase in CO2 at that time ?    There certainly was not too many humans living on the planet and the industrial revolution was still a long way in the future.  It tends to support the theory held by many that CO2 levels are a natural variation - and beyond our control.

At least it will provide a reason for politicians to avoid making new decisions on climate measures.   We will just have to wait and see what Mother Nature has in store for the future citizens of planet Earth !