When the BBC can explain what causes ice ages, and brief warming periods between ice ages, the Marauder minimum period, the middle age maximum warming and the little ice age anything they print is crap!
This was all before man had any significant impact on CO2 levels.
The real answer is orbital mechanics of the earth about the sun whose output is not a static quantity and the electromagnetic field of the earth which does effect total energy input received from the sun and cosmic rays that are integral to cloud cover of the earth. More cosmic rays means more clouds and thus much more reflective energy from the sun back into space and thus cooling. When the magnetic field is weak we have more cosmic rays enter our atmosphere and thus more cloud cover and thus cooling.
In reality they really do not know.
CO2 is plant food and when high life flourishes on earth and when low, life does not flourish. In Geologic terms we are actually in a CO2 drought, actually not far from extinction levels. It should also be noted that crops today are much more abundant due to our increased CO2 levels. CO2 is good!
Will the glacial caps of Greenland and the Antarctic melt? If geologic history is any indicator they will and it has not one damn thing to do with man. On the other hand we may be in a warming period of a glacial period and could full well go back to full ice age conditions. This has happened in the Geologic past.
If we really do go to full warming man will slowly retreat from the coast over thousands of years and there will be no disruption of civilization. It should be noted that the possible end of this ice age resulted in very rapid rises in sea levels for the past 12000 years. This rise has slowed greatly. It is very small compared to the last 12000 years. In the past when this rise slowed it was the beginning of a new ice age.
The normal condition of earth is Ice Age. These brief warming periods are an anomaly. Enjoy the warmth. It does not last long.
Geologist, Chemist, Pharmacist
Absolutely... And if the oceans are indeed warming then they are extracting heat from a source which will in turn cool that source. The atmosphere is that source.