David Grinspoon Quote
Since, as I’ve indicated, we don’t fully understand the mechanism by which the orbital Milanković forcing causes large climate swings, there is a lot of uncertainty here. The last warm interglacial before the one we’re in now, the Eemian, about one hundred twenty-five thousand years ago, lasted for about ten thousand years. This length is typical. Most of these warm periods persist for roughly the length that ours has already lasted. Yet the one we’re in now seems to be weird, and not just because of us. Some models predict that, without human interference, the ice would return within fifteen thousand or twenty thousand years. Others suggest that, due to Earth’s orbit currently being in a phase of low eccentricity—meaning
David Grinspoon
Since, as I’ve indicated, we don’t fully understand the mechanism by which the orbital Milanković forcing causes large climate swings, there is a lot of uncertainty here. The last warm interglacial before the one we’re in now, the Eemian, about one hundred twenty-five thousand years ago, lasted for about ten thousand years. This length is typical. Most of these warm periods persist for roughly the length that ours has already lasted. Yet the one we’re in now seems to be weird, and not just because of us. Some models predict that, without human interference, the ice would return within fifteen thousand or twenty thousand years. Others suggest that, due to Earth’s orbit currently being in a phase of low eccentricity—meaning
Related Quotes
About David Grinspoon
His research focuses on comparative planetology, with a focus on climate evolution on Earth-like planets and implications for habitability. He has also studied, written and lectured on the human influence on Earth, as seen in cosmic perspective.
He has published four books, Venus Revealed, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times book prize, Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life, which won the 2004 PEN literary award for nonfiction, Earth in Human Hands, which was named one of NPR's Science Friday "Best Science Books of 2016" and Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto, co-authored with Alan Stern. He is adjunct professor of Astrophysical and Planetary Science at the University of Colorado, a former Fellow of the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth College and a former Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the College of the Environment at Wesleyan University.