ABSTRACT
The revolutions in glacial and atmospheric sciences are now fully integrated through the nature of ice sheet-ocean-atmosphere interactions. Concern that atmospheric warming may cause runaway melting of Arctic ice is tempered by the risk of at least regional cooling by negative feedbacks on ocean thermohaline circulation. With popular attention lavished on ‘greenhouse’ conditions and global warming, we sometimes forget that we occupy a brief temperate or interglacial phase of the Quaternary Ice Age. The inheritance of the last cold or glacial stage surrounds us. Most mid-latitude farmland and sand-andgravel aggregates industry is founded on glacial sediments or their derivatives. Their complex geotechnical character tests civil engineering skills, especially in glaciated highlands. Many slopes excavated and over-steepened by glacial erosion are still unstable and liable to failure but the same process has created ready-made water reservoir sites. Spectacular highland scenery, formed during intense Quaternary glacial and frost action in Cenozoic and older orogens, continues to develop in modern alpine glacial areas. Scenic attraction and tourism depend on them. The full impact of global warming depends on the uncertain reaction of Earth’s cryosphere.
