Snapshot Of Past Climate Reveals No Ice In Antarctica Millions Of Years Ago

ScienceDaily (July 29, 2008) — A snapshot of New Zealand’s climate 40 million years ago reveals a greenhouse Earth, with warmer seas and little or no ice in Antarctica, according to research recently published in the journal Geology.

The study suggests that Antarctica at that time was yet to develop extensive ice sheets. Back then, New Zealand was about 1100 km further south, at the same latitude as the southern tip of South America – so was closer to Antarctica – but the researchers found that the water temperature was 23-25°C at the sea surface and 11-13°C at the bottom.

“This is too warm to be the Antarctic water we know today,” said Dr Catherine (Cat) Burgess from Cardiff University and lead-author of the paper. “And the seawater chemistry shows there was little or no ice on the planet.”

I understand that right after this ‘snapshot’ was taken the early ancestors of Al Gore  (Slugs, worms, and other vermin) decided to make the world safe for ice by instituting a strict policy of no carbon emissions whatsoever.  So not only do we have the the Internet to thank the Gore’s for, but ice as well.