The Last Ice Age trapped vast amounts of sediment in its frozen grip. At their height, the frozen wastes covered Canada and the northern part of the United States. They also spread over much of Britain, northern Europe, Russia, and Asia. When they finally vanished 12,000 years ago, their melt deposited countless tons of sediment on the continental shelf. The iron fist of climate change was primed and ready to strike.
The Iron First of Climate Change Delivers a Knockout Blow
A piece of continental shelf measuring 180 miles in length collapsed off Norway approximately 8,000 years ago. This released some 725 cubic miles of sediment into the ocean depths. The event generated a massive tsunami of proportions almost beyond our understanding.
The wave traveled as far as Greenland. When it reached the Scottish islands it was eighty feet high and moving at eighty mph, judging by archeological records. A solid rock of water as high as a seven-floor building slammed into fishing communities, obliterating everything it its path. There were no NASA cameras to record the event, and no media to announce the iron fist of climate change had struck.
Could This Climate Change Holocaust Happen Again
“The world really changed at the end of the Ice Age,” Vincent Gaffney, archaeologist at University of Bradford told BBC. The Storegga Slide off Norway was just one of a series of extreme events as the Last Ice Age ended.
Some scientists believe this climate change event followed an increase in greenhouse gases after a comet exploded over southern Canada. Whatever the reason, that scenario is eerily similar to the polar melt we are facing today. Moreover, tsunamis are a commoner event in Europe than we might wish to believe. The last big one destroyed Lisbon, Portugal in 1755.
The chances of a big one recurring in our lifetime are astronomically minimal. However, if it were to happen, then we would not have the time nor the ability to stop it. Humankind’s ingenuity would have no counter punch for the iron fist of a climate change knock out punch.
Related
Where Climate Change Will Strike Hardest
World Faces Catastrophic Disaster (UN Chief)
Preview Image: Moment of 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
Video Share Link: https://youtu.be/Nomlo8X58PY
