Historical break in geological periods: The natural glacial cycle started 2 thousand years ago but stopped with global warming

Researchers from Columbia University and the University of Colorado Boulder examined ancient ice layers in Canada and found that the planet entered a new ice age 2,000 years ago, but human-induced global warming completely stopped this process. The study, published in the journal Science, revealed that humanity has now become a geological force that can change millions of years of natural cycles.

THE GLACIATION PROCESS THAT STARTED 2 THOUSAND YEARS AGO SUDDENLY STOPPED

Researchers examined plant remains trapped in the ice sheet and "beryllium-10" radioactive isotopes accumulated in rocks by sunlight. The data obtained showed that the Earth's climate began to cool down about 2,000 years ago and a new ice age (glaciation) naturally began.

Ice masses, which continued to grow until the last 60 years, suddenly stopped and began a melting process due to global temperatures rising with fossil fuel use and industrialization since the 20th century. Geochemist Nicolás Young, one of the authors of the study, reported that the onset of the glacier, which proceeded in the normal course of nature, was completely suspended by human intervention.

"HUMANITY IS NOW A GEOLOGICAL AGENT OF THE PLANET"

In the analysis article accompanying the research, glaciologist Prof. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Shaun Marcott emphasized that human activities could prevent the emergence of a new ice age for the next "hundreds of thousands of years".

Marcott stated that such a rupture has occurred for the first time in the last 2 million years of geological history, and that humans have now become a huge geological actor that can change the physical and biological systems of the Earth.

IT WILL LEAVE PERMANENT EFFECTS ON BIODIVERSITY AND PHYSICAL SYSTEMS

Scientists emphasize that even if fossil fuel use is phased out, there is no guarantee that natural climate cycles will reach balance again.

Experts state that the cancellation of future glacial cycles will deeply affect the physical geography of the planet and the living species that evolve with the climate, and note that if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced urgently, the Earth system will reach a point of no return.