From the November 2004 Scientific American Magazine | 0 comments

Abrupt Climate Change ( Preview )

Winter temperatures plummeting six degrees Celsius and sudden droughts scorching farmland around the globe are not just the stuff of scary movies. Such striking climate jumps have happened before--sometimes within a matter of years

By Richard B. Alley

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In the Hollywood disaster thriller The Day after Tomorrow, a climate catastrophe of ice age proportions catches the world unprepared. Millions of North Americans flee to sunny Mexico as wolves stalk the last few people huddled in freeze-dried New York City. Tornadoes ravage California. Giant hailstones pound Tokyo.

Are overwhelmingly abrupt climate changes likely to happen anytime soon, or did Fox Studios exaggerate wildly? The answer to both questions appears to be yes. Most climate experts agree that we need not fear a full-fledged ice age in the coming decades. But sudden, dramatic climate changes have struck many times in the past, and they could happen again. In fact, they are probably inevitable.

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