RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS PREDICT RETURN OF LITTLE ICE AGE 

Deutsche Presse Agentur, 22 November 2006
 HYPERLINK "http://www.playfuls.com/news_003020_Russian_Scientists_Predict_New_Ice_A" \o "Open URL: http://www.playfuls.com/news_003020_Russian_Scientists_Predict_New_Ice_A" \t "linkWin" http://www.playfuls.com/news_003020_Russian_Scientists_Predict_New_Ice_A
ge_In_50_Years.html

Researchers with the Russian Academy of Sciences warned Wednesday that
the Earth could be headed for a 60-year cooldown, the news agency
Interfax reported. 

Scientists based at the academy's Pulkovskaya Observatory in St
Petersburg, Russia, said they expected a gradual decrease in global
temperatures in 2012-15, followed by a more dramatic, 60-year period of
cold to come in 2055-60. 

Khabibullo Abdusamatov, chief researcher at the observatory, said the
predictions were based on solar cycles, and that after the 60-year
glimpse of the Ice Ages warmer weather could be expected. 

Abdusamatov did not say how much cooler the Earth would get. 

Little is known about long-term weather patterns. Evidence that the
globe's surface temperature has warmed by about a half-degree Celsius in
recent years has livened debate about whether a buildup of greenhouse
gases is to blame for global warming, or if it is part of a naturally
occurring cycle. 

The United States' National Academy of Sciences has reported it cannot
say with any certainty what has caused the current warming. Scientists
have noted a warming of the surface temperature appeared to have
occurred between the 1890s and 1940s, and that a 30-year period of
cooler temperatures followed. 

What is clear is that a little warming goes a long way: During the most
recent ice age, which ended 10,000 years ago, much of North America,
including New York, is thought to have been covered in glaciers. 

The global surface temperature then was some 4 to 5 degrees colder than
it currently is. 

The Russian academy, meanwhile, did not use its predictions to weigh in
on whether greenhouse gases will lead to catastrophic global warming. 

Abdusamatov, the researcher, did add that his colleagues had prepared
instruments to monitor changes in the Earth's temperature from outer
space. 

The technology is hoped to be installed on the International Space
Station in 2008, with observations to begin in 2009. 

"Such a highly accurate apparatus does not yet exist anywhere in the
world," Abdusamatov said without specifying what exactly the apparatus
was. 

He said the Russian government had contributed 20 million rubles (7.5
million US dollars) to cover half the project's costs. The scientists,
Abdusamatov added, are hoping to find sponsors to provide the other
half.

(c) 2006 DPA