We are today newcomers to climate events that have not been seen for a very long time and which Nature has played out many times before. It is evident from an analysis of the record of the past that carbon dioxide has not played a determining role during times of climate change and has obscured our view of far more critical forces of change. We have placed ourselves in a high-stakes gamble with Nature, and we should realize that when it comes to climate, Nature holds all of the cards.

The area of the North Atlantic and the Subpolar Seas is now known to be a precursor to global change, and it is apparent that over the last several decades, every important aspect of its climate has increasingly experienced great change. Because of the vital role of this region, and that the changes there are driven by global influences that are also changing, and because of the timing in the Earth's glacial cycle in which we find ourselves, we should be cognizant that an expected cooling, which has now begun there, could propagate into a global transition to an entirely new, glacial, climate state.