Brad Sallows
Army.ca Legend
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"Runaway" means a positive feedback (amplification) situation from which there is no recovery. The planet has experienced ice ages and warmer periods, so obviously it has also moved away from them. Enough time has passed that if any such feedback mechanisms existed, one of them would likely have manifested and the planet would be an ice ball or a hot foggy greenhouse. There have always been negative feedbacks - mechanisms set in motion by shifts to cooler or warmer regimes, which mitigate and reverse the cooling or warming.The paleoclimate record supports the idea that the planet has experienced climates more extreme in both directions. It's improbable that any "amplification" can lead to a "runaway" situation, or the planet would have become irreversibly very cold or very hot long ago
sorry the error of course is in the word irreversible
of course the past swings have been reversed we have the evidence. many of which is a function of extra terrestrial and tectonic activity
why irreversible? I dont think its obvious at all if one were to run the tape again that the results would be the same
what does irreversible mean with respect to our current status?