The Unsolved Puzzle of Past Ice Ages

Secular scientists struggle to explain what caused the cyclical ice ages that many believe happened in the past. But a new study has laid out how initial changes in climate could have triggered the chain of events resulting in these supposed ice ages. “We are pretty confident that the carbon balance between the atmosphere and ocean must have changed,” Malte Jansen, coauthor of the study, said, “but we don’t quite know how or why.”

Based on new evidence, researchers suggest that increasing sea ice in the Antarctic might have altered the exchange of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the ocean. More sea ice would have retained more carbon dioxide, keeping this greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere and leading to even more cooling, in a sort of feedback loop. But what started the process and what caused the supposed cycles is still unclear. “The most plausible explanation is that there was some change in how carbon was divided between the atmosphere and the ocean,” Jansen said. “There’s no shortage of ideas about how this happens, but it’s not quite clear how they all fit together.”

Creation scientists believe the effects of the flood triggered just one ice age. The violent upheaval and drastic environmental changes caused by the worldwide catastrophic event, including an ocean that covered the entire surface of the globe for many months, certainly would have altered the exchange of carbon dioxide. These secular researchers’ statements unwittingly confirm the biblical model.

Secular scientists don’t know the whole story, so they don’t have a mechanism for an ice age. But Scripture offers the explanation that fills in their missing pieces.