Environmental Questions
 

Are there any estimates out there as to how long it would take the world to return to "normal" temperatures if man were to disappear tomorrow?

Is there any estimate as to what "normal" is?

If man quit creating green house gases would it provoke an ice age?

Re: Environmental Questions
 

The temperature of the earth has always fluctuated, so I don't think there is a normal temperature to which the climate can return to. If you wish to define the normal state of the climate anyway, in the context of your question, then it would make sense to define it as 'any condition' the climate would be in or return to if men were absent. And apparently the absence of humanity would make earth that much more livable for us.

Re: Environmental Questions
 

If we would all start prancing around with bamboo sticks on our penises, chanting around artificial fires worshiping the rain god, I'm sure rain would cause forests to regrow and heal the ozon layer within a human lifetime. If that doesn't work we could always just trow five billion people into the Vesuvius volcano to achieve the same results with more lasting effects.

And no, of course this wouldn't cause an ice age. Otherwise Africa and South America would already be in one.

Re: Environmental Questions
 

"Have a chocolate."

Re: Environmental Questions
 

"/squirts with water"

Re: Environmental Questions
 

Another question then. Do increased levels of CO2 cause global warming or does global warming cause increased levels of CO2? The evidence seems equivocal.

Re: Environmental Questions
 

Both options do not exclude each other.

Re: Environmental Questions
 

Which evidence are we talking about?

Re: Environmental Questions
 

There has been research in antiarctica on ice cores take which indicate that there have been many incidences of the earth warming FOLLOWED by an increase in the CO2 level.

The current wisdom is that CO2 causes the warming of the climate. However, there does not seem to be a clear correlation between the two.