are we experiencing the end of a mini ice age, or global warming? facts please.?

Brittany, this is a great question. I've given it a star. You should be commended for looking for information on both sides of the debate.

Yes, we are experiencing the end of "the little ice age." The little ice age was a 500 year cold period that lasted from around 1350-1850 AD. It is interesting how global warming fanatics, such as Trevor, attempt to dismiss the effects of the little ice age in the current warming trend. Most of his statements are full of misinformation, because the facts don't fit his agenda.

For instance, Trevor suggests that the little ice age was not a global event but, confined to Europe. This is completely false. The effects of the little ice age were more strongly felt in the northern hemisphere, but the were felt world wide (as and aside, the current warming trend is more largely a northern hemisphere event that a world wide event.) See the attached link to national geographic that explains that glaciers in alaska, and world wide advanced during the little ice age. The effects of the little ice age were not uniform over the globe at the same time, but instead occured at different times and to different degrees worldwide.

Secondly, Trevor believes that sunspot activity has been "back to normal" for hundreds of years now. Again, this is completely false. Take a look at the link to the Nasa Earthobservatory Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment. This shows that since the Maunder minimum, the number of sunspots increased during the 1700s, dropped again during the Dalton minimum in the early 1800s, rose again, but fell steadily from the mid 1800s to around 1900, and rose again during the last century. Where exactly on this curve is the "normal" level of sunspots? Of course, the number of sunspots is only one factor in the sun's total irradiance, and does not give an accurate measure of the sun's energy reaching the earth. A comprehesive study of the total solar irradiance reacing earth over the last century show that increase in solar irradiance directly correlates with 80% of the warming over that time (see the link to agu.org.)

Trevor also suggest that the Black Death caused the little ice age by killing off half of Europe's population. This is quite a novel idea, i've never heard that one before. Of course it is a ridiculous notion. The Black Death in europe was an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague. There have been outbreaks bubonic plague throughout history, but none have ever been suggested to change the earth's climate. The reason that the plague was so serious in Europe in the mid 1300s was because the climatic changes that led to the little ice age caused cooler and wetter climates in europe, leading to crop failures, famines, more susceptability to disease, etc. In other words, natural climate changes caused the conditions in europe that made the bubonic plague outbreak more serious. The plague did not cause the little ice age as Trevor suggests.

Trevor also suggests that by the year 1800, the little ice age was over and temperatures had returned to "their long term average." This is not what the data suggests. As the little ice age was more pronounced in the northern hemisphere, lets look at the temperature reconstruction data from Greenland. If you look at the Current Major Interglacial link, the bottom half of figure 2.2 shows the Greenland temperature for the last 10,000 years. If you look at the last 1000 years, you will see that temperature dropped from the medeival warm period (around 1000 years ago) and leveled out from about 1100-1200. In 1200 the started to drop again (the onset of the little ice age) until they reached a cold level in around 1350 until 1850 (the little ice age.) The temperature started to rise again in the late 1800s, but are still quite a bit colder than the 10,000 year average for Greenland. In fact, Greenland was warmer for most of the last 10,000 years than it is now.

The warming over the last century directly corresponds to the end of the little ice age, and can be directly correlated to the increase in solar output over that period.

THEN

The little Ice Age was a period between 1350 and 1850 when GLOBAL air temperatures were cooler than they were in the 20th century. This phenomena was very well documented in the Northern Hemisphere. Temperatures began to rise slowly beginning in the late 1800's and it was not until a rapid increase of solar activity in the 1930's and 40's that the world experienced temperatures comparable to today. In the late 1950's and 60's solar activity slowed briefly and another cooling cycle began, which caused some to speculate about the possibility of another mini-ice age on the horizon in the late 1970's.

NOW:

In the mid 1970's solar activity returned with a vengeance but was masked by the volcanic eruptions of EL-Chichon in 1982 and Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. The late 1980's and early 1990's should have been even warmer the it was in 1998, and all of the alarm-ism would have began 20 years earlier.

THE FUTURE

Unless a major volcanic eruption occurs and speeds things up, the world is forecast to continue on a gradual cooling cycle over the next few decades. Solar cycle 25 is forecast to be weaker than any that have been observed in centuries. By 2030 the world could be a much cooler place.

Except: There is one possibility that cycle 24 could be one of the largest that humans have seen. If so, there could be a possibility of our technology that relies on electronics to be severely damaged. "No Power for Months, maybe years for some. But cycle 25 will definitely be a colder period regardless of what cycle 24 does.

THE FACTS:

Every climatic change that has been discovered by paleontology over the last several thousand years can be explained by solar variability, if you believe in man made global warming you are trusting the forecast of our future to computer simulations, that are only modeling a fraction of the variables required to predict climatic change.

Everything is a cycle, our civilization is thriving only because the climate is warm, not the other way around.

Little Ice Age Facts

The Little Age Age (LIA) was a period that ended a long time ago. The climax of the LIA was approx 400 years ago and caused more by a long term period of almost no sunspot activity, a time known as the Maunder Minimum. For hundreds of years now sunspot activity has been back to normal. It took about 200 years for the climate to fully recover from the LIA but by around 1800 things were back to normal and the temps had returned to their long term average.

The LIA wasn't so much a global event, it was confined more to Europe than anywhere else. This has led to a generally accepted belief that another important contributory factor was the Black Death. This ravaged Europe and killed half the population at the time just before the onset of the LIA.

The reduced population would have meant a corresponding reduction in the number of cattle, the amount of timber being felled, wood being burned etc - all things that would contribute to global cooling.

Citing the end of the LIA is really nothing more than a poor excuse used by some skeptics who don't seem aware that it ended 200 years ago.

The thing about global warming is that it is causing a cooling trend. So much ice has melted into the ocean that the Gulf Stream has slowed by 30%. By 2010 it will be nearly shut down completely! By then we are suppose to see the beginnings of a new "little ice age" on the east coast of the US and in europe. Facts to prove it:

-Alaskan, Canadian, US, Norweigian, Antarctic, and Siberian Glaciers are advancing.

-Greenlands Edges are melting but the vast interior is growing and has been over the past 10 years.

-Only the antarctic peninsula is melting, the rest is growing outward and thickening at an amazingly fast pace.

-NYC saw its biggest snowfall-2006.

-VA saw record snowfall, visible from space-2004.

-Florida, Alabama, Georgia saw snow-2006.

-There was snow on the US map until june-2007.

We are experiencing Global Warming (the non natural cycle, which is unmodest warming over a few decades to a century). to get the facts go to climatecrisis.org and to learn how to reduce your carbon footprint go to think.mtv.com

actually when solar and volcanic activity is charted we're entering a cool down phase. but because of green house gases CO2 the planet is actually warming up. I keep hearing from people who don't want to be bothered with changing their greedy habits that it's a natural cycle unfortunately the data they quote says it should be getting colder not warming.

The answers here seem to be all over the place. Go to the library and get a book on climate changes, climateology, and read for yourself. Get a young adult book on the subject if you don't want to spend a lot of time with it.

movies and shows are generally biased, don't base your opinion off those. the media's way of getting people to pay attention is alarmism, that's why you'll see reports about mass murders on the news, but not any "good things" (like a man donating money to a university).

here are some (objective graphs) so you can decide for yourself:

http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Image:Climate...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Greenhouse_Gas_...

http://gristmill.grist.org/images/user/6932/2000_Y...

http://www.17thparallel.com/vegita/global1.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Global_Warming_...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Global_Cooling_...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Global_Warming_...

on discovery channel with tom brokoff Quote: I'm an old man if something doesn't stop the glaciers from melting in 20 years the Polar Bear will be dead and that is in my lifetime Tom said. he is a very famous reporter. also if we don't stop polluting our air this will not recover ever were dead! they did a teat with ice this has never happen in 600 million years. pretty soon the trees will stop bringing in the carbon. were screwed bottom line.