Climatic Disaster: Future Global Warming or Ice Age?

While many scientists and journalist discuss the current trend of global warming, on the back-end there are a few who are looking at the other spectrum for a future ice-age era.  The cold winter temperatures have definitely been noticeable in areas of the country this year and last year, record cold temperatures were recorded all around the world, leaving many to question global warming and turn to an ice-age explanation.  In this recent article, the cold temperatures around the globe are discussed:

"Parts of Alaska have experience temperatures reaching 78 degrees below zero, North Dakota has record December snow, a Minnesota sled-dog race was actually cancelled due to heavy snow, and Ohio ski resorts have called a recent winter snow, a 'stimulus package for their industry'."

Some scientists are just now starting to jump on board with the ice-age theory.  Science has already originally found that Earth experiences 1500 year cycles of warming and cooling.  We are now beginning to experience longer "seasons", of which we experience a slight increase in global temperature, also known as global warming.  However, at the end of each "extended season", the increased temperature ends and the Earth should return to ice-age conditions for an estimated 100,000 years.  

Scientific evidence is showing more and more signs that we may in fact be entering into ice-age conditions.  For one, even though many have read that polar bears are on the endangered species list, polar bears are in fact actually thriving in population, which challenges the global warming theory that they are supposedly affected by.  The number of polar bears is five times greater than it was 50 years ago, increasing from 5,000 to around 25,000.  Canadian biologist Dr. Mitchell Tayler, one of the foremost authorities on polar bears states: "We're seeing an increase in bears that's really unprecedented, and in places where we're seeing a decrease in the population, it's because of hunting and human interference in their environment, not directly related to climate change."  According to other studies, polar bears have actually thrived in warmer weather in their environment in the past.

I would agree that all aspects of nature should be taken into consideration before we all jump onto one main train of thinking.  If we only worry about one thing and not take into account there might be another vicious thing nature can attack us with, we will not expect nature's attack of a coming ice-age.  It is not a matter of how it will happen, but when.  We already know the Earth's past season cycles and understand that warming and cooling periods happen...so we need to be prepared and what better way to predict the future than to learn from past Earth cycles.  Experts are divided in determining whether we are entering a global warming period or an ice-age.  We just need to be ready for both and understand them both, no matter what, so in the end the experts need to come together to figure out what our issue is so we can fix it.  This is just a reality check that we still don't have a full understanding on what is going on with Mother Nature...What do you think:  Are we entering into a global warming period or an ice-age era?