That's our situation with gradual warming and abrupt cooling. (williamcalvin.com)
So we should welcome gradual warming and fear large decreases in global temperatures. (carlineconomics.com)
It seems this happened 55 million years ago, when gradual warming of the atmosphere penetrated to the ocean depths and unlocked the methane, which caused a much greater warming that resulted in the extinction of millions of species. (smh.com.au)