why do long periods of global warming lead to ice ages?
In: Planetary Science
I’m no scientist, but I’ll give it a shot.
When the temperature increases, it causes the poles to start melting and therefore shed water, causing an increase in sea levels.
The increased sea level starts covering land where vegetation once grew. The vegetation is important because plants and trees contribute largely to the atmosphere that we breathe and live in. The atmosphere is what protects us from the hostile and cold environment of space. If we lose or severely deplete that thin protective layer, the planet cannot retain the heat it gets from the sun, and it gets cold enough to form ice over a lot (?most) of the surface (which causes more vegetation to die).
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