MacDougall may point out these facts but whilst doing so he refrains from the typical alarmism that often accompanies these tracts. It is unlikely that Earth will be (as per many of the alarmists) transformed into another melting Venus, and the oceans can still absorb much of the CO2 that we are creating, although MacDougall does admit that we are destroying hordes of the marine population at the same time. He also says that our ability to release carbon emission into the atmosphere will decrease with time since our known oil deposits are rapidly dwindling.
Earth has already experienced one interglacial warming period; the extra carbon in the atmosphere aggravates the situation. Earth too is impeded form reflecting the sun's energy back into space due to the constant melting of the polar ice caps and other glaciers, thus the warming is accelerated and intensified.
The last 20,000 years have been uncommonly mild according to MacDougall's description. His prediction is that the next 20,000 to 30,000 years will see a steady warming trend before the earth begins to cool and reverses the effects of the...
It helped lead to more accurate readings of inanimate objects like rocks, too, which helped scientists narrow down the age of the Earth and how it has evolved through time. Macdougall uses many differing sources for his book, as his "notes and further reading" section indicates. He uses books, journal articles, essays, and scientific data, and offers some of that data up in Appendixes in the back of the book.
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