Take a trip back in time with me.  The year: 1993.  The place: Greenland.  What in the world happened in Greenland back in 1993 that could possibly have anything to do with global warming?  Plenty!

Noel Sheppard of NewsBusters.org recently re-visited an article that first appeared in the New York Times back on July 15, 1993.  Sheppard points out that the article dismisses any ties between the burning of fossil fuels and rising temperatures.  The original article, entitled "Study of Greenland Ice Finds Rapid Change in Past Climate" was written by Walter Sullivan.  The main point of the article was to focus on the findings of climate specialists that analyzed ice extracted from the Greenland ice sheet.  The article states that many climate scientists were surprised to learn that the climate over the past 250,000 years has changed quickly and quite often.  The exception to those changes has been the last 8,000 to 10,000 years since the last ice age. 

Sheppard reveals several interesting points from the original article including the fact the human beings have been lucky to live in a stable climate up to this point and that this period of stability might be unusual in the natural course of the planet.  Scientists speculated back in 1993 that the climate may get either warmer or colder much more quickly than anyone realized, maybe in the span of decades or less.  The data from the Greenland ice sheet showed that "significantly warmer periods and significantly colder periods had occurred during the last interval between glacial epochs, about 115,000 to 135,000 years ago."  Another key point from Sullivan's original article was this: "The new studies found that the average global temperature can change as much as 18 degrees Fahrenheit in a couple of decades during interglacial periods."  We are of course currently in an interglacial period.  In other words, we are simply waiting for the next ice age to occur.  

It was just during the last interglacial period when the average global temperature sky-rocketed downward 25 degrees Fahrenheit to ice-age levels for about 70 years.  Back in 1993, the climate scientists noted that the climate of the last 8,000-10,000 years was a mystery because it had been "strangely stable."  One of the most interesting items to me is how these folks actually study the ice data.  Each layer of ice accumulates after each year's snowfall.  The layers stack one on top of the other much like a layer cake.  Past climate records are retrieved from the analysis of oxygen in each layer of ice.  The amount of a lighter form of oxygen compared to that of a heavier form is used to determine the temperature at the time when the snow actually fell to the earth.

Data within the Greenland ice cores suggested that "the climate in the North American region is apt to reorganize itself rapidly, perhaps even within a few decades," the scientists noted.  Sheppard wants us to "pay particular attention to this next segment" from the original New York Times article.  The article goes on to state that the climate melted enough polar ice to raise sea levels some 30 feet during the time between the previous two glacial epochs.  Did humans cause that?  I sincerely doubt it.  

Finally, I think this next quote sums everything up quite nicely.  Sheppard also points it out and wants us to recognize that even just fifteen years ago we seemed to know better.  Dr. J.W.C. White of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research of the University of Colorado stated in Sullivan's article that, "We humans have built a remarkable socioeconomic system during perhaps the only time when it could be built, when climate was sufficiently stable to allow us to develop the agricultural infrastructure required to maintain an advanced society.  We don't know why we have been so blessed, but even without human intervention, the climate system is capable of stunning variability."

Well put indeed!  What do you think?  I would love to know!  Write to me at brettsblog@abc27.com or post your thoughts below!  Have a great Thursday!