According to a recent study by Cambridge University researchers, CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is too high to allow the onset of a potentially overdue ice age. The period between the end of an ice age and the beginning of the next is typically about 11,000 years due to natural cycles related to the Earth’s orbit. The last ice age ended 11,600 years ago and researchers estimate that glacial inception, an early sign of the onset of an ice age, should start in the near future. However, an ice age would only be able to begin if the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere were to fall, from current levels of approximately 390 ppm, to roughly 240ppm or lower.

The Global Warming Policy Foundation said the study demonstrated that man-made carbon dioxide emissions were preventing a “global disaster”. The think tank, set up by Lord Lawson, cited a theory proposed by Sir Fred Hoyle and Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe in 1999 which said we “must look to a sustained greenhouse effect to maintain the present advantageous world climate.”

Dr Luke Skinner, who led the recent study, told the BBC such an argument would be “missing the point” that man-made climate change will heat the planet much more than current temperatures, and that failing to slow the rate of carbon emissions could have “huge consequences.”