Reducing Carbon emissions won’t cause ice age when we’re currently in it now
Denise Su 22, Denise Su is an associate professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change and research scientist in the Institute of Human Origins. Her research explores the environments in which our early ancestors lived to provide insight into how environmental factors shaped the trajectory of human evolution. She was previously the Curator of Paleobotany and Paleoecology and Chief Academic Engagement Officer at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, integrating research with public outreach and education and leading initiatives to increase access to and diversify participation in science. “How many ice ages has the Earth had, and could humans live through one?," Space, https://www.space.com/ice-ages-on-earth-could-humans-survive//ethanh
First, what is an ? It's when the has cold temperatures for a long time — millions to tens of millions of years — that lead to ice sheets and glaciers covering large areas of its surface.
We know that the Earth has had . The first one happened about 2 billion years ago and lasted about 300 million years. The most recent one started about 2.6 million years ago, and in fact, we are still technically in it.
So why isn't the Earth covered in ice right now? It's because we are in a period known as an "interglacial." In an ice age, temperatures will fluctuate between colder and warmer levels. Ice sheets and glaciers melt during warmer phases, which are called interglacials, and expand during colder phases, which are called glacials.
Right now we are in the most recent ice age's warm interglacial period, which began about 11,000 years ago.