Footprints of the Ice Age

Even while global warming and its impending devastating consequences is occupying everyone’s concern its still fascinating to look back and study that last ice age – the Wisconsan Glaciation – which happened only a relatively recent time ago, and which ended rather quickly after what I believe was a meteor impact which caused catastrophic sudden melting of portions of the Laurentide ice sheet (the ice sheet still exists today but is farther north) and possibly other consequences as well which quite sadly killed off a lot of the large mammals that had lived for a long time in North America including two elephant-related species, a species of tiger, and others. I like to imagine what it would be like if these large mammals had not died off. Imagine going for a hike and seeing a wild mastodon or mammoth somewhere. I bet they were beautiful creatures.

The geology associated with the advance and later retreat of the ice sheet is also very fascinating and, watching this documentary below, I was surprised to find out that there are still ecological remnants of the last glaciation in terms of special plant species and biomes that exist no place else on Earth.

I was also watching some videos this past week on the Greenland ice melt. I highly recommend checking out some of these videos. What is happening in Greenland right now is shocking and in my opinion a very sad sign of the severe disruption humans are causing on Earth. Even while none of us may particularly be thrilled about 3-kilometer-thick sheets of ice they are part of the Earth and its great cycles that span ages and we humans have existed alongside them for countless millennia.

Regarding the meteor impact idea, it is now theorized that an ultra-high velocity meteor struck the Laurentide ice sheet in an area where the Great Lakes now are, launching massive ice projectiles at velocities of 2 miles per second. When these massive ice projectiles struck the Earth hundreds and thousands of kilometers away they formed elliptical basins which on the US eastern coast are known as the Carolina Basins. One can imagine what a shower of these ice projectiles would have done to everything in their path including plants and animals.

This video below is not the most accessible documentary but if you understand basic science and can follow along it is actually quite fascinating. I much prefer this type of video than the terrible “documentaries” being made now which are worse than empty entertainment. With their appallingly bad acting and reconstructions/depictions of past events I believe they are destroying the ability of people to actually use their imaginations and to think. No wonder the world is becoming more stupid.

When I was younger documentaries never had such acting/renactments/depictions. It was considered enough to explain the matters under investigation and provide detailed information presented by experts. Now they are just catering to stupidity and its sad that these new types of documentaries get money to create the crap they produce. But I guess that ultimately is what it all comes down to: Money. The rush to the lowest common denominator in society fueled by profit and greed.