New Ice Age maps point to climate change patterns
The Australian National University’s Dr Timothy Barrows has participated in a wide-ranging study on the climate change effects during the last ice age.
“During the last Ice Age – around 20,000 years ago – sea surface temperature was as much as 10 degrees colder than present and icebergs would have been regular visitors to the southern coastline of Australia,” Dr Barrows said.
The temperature was estimated by measuring changes in abundance of tiny plankton fossils preserved on the sea floor, together with chemical analyses of the sediment itself.
“One of our major findings was that the continent’s mid latitudes (Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney) are very sensitive and experience the greatest climate change in and out of Ice Ages. This is where we should focus monitoring and look at past impacts of climate change.
“In contrast, the tropical areas (north of Brisbane) change very little, mostly less than 2 degrees.”
While some of the local press are demanding we all move to Darwin, I’d like to point out that even a ‘mostly less than 2 degrees’ change is still a huge change, especially for the tropics. — DS