[Mike Darancette]

So, what has been the change in sea floor water temperatures off the coast of NC in the last 15,000 years since the glaciers have retreated? But I'm sure that it is the SUVs bought by Freepers in that last 5 years that will tip the world into worldwide heating.

[alloysteel]

There have actually been periods of fluctuation, as the Gulf Stream has shifted flow, bring warmer water to regions where the methane hydrate has concentrated, and may have been a contributing factor during the Middle Ages, when ther was a spike in global temperatures, around 800 AD. The Norsemen traveled as far west as Greenland (which really did have some green at that time) and possibly to Newfoundland. That temperature spike may have been due to a huge methane release somewhere in the region of Iceland.