Ice Age Theory Origins

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‘The origins of ice age theory began hundreds of years ago, when Europeans noted that glaciers in the Alps had shrunk, but its popularization is credited to 19th century Swiss geologist Louis Agassiz. Contradicting the belief that a wide-ranging flood killed off such megafauna as the wooly mammoth, Agassiz pointed to rock striations and sediment piles as evidence of glacier activity from a destructive global winter. Geologists soon found evidence of plant life between glacial sediment, and by the close of the century the theory of multiple global winters had been established.

A second important figure in the development of these studies was Serbian mathematician Milutin Milankovitch. Seeking to chart the Earth’s temperature from the past 600,000 years, Milankovitch carefully calculated how orbital variations such as eccentricity, precession and axial tilt affected solar radiation levels, publishing his work in the 1941 book Canon of Insolation and the Ice Age Problem. Milankovitch’s findings were corroborated when technological improvements in the 1960s allowed for the analyzation of deep sea ice cores and plankton shells, which helped pinpoint periods of glaciation.

Along with solar radiation levels, it is believed that global warming and cooling is connected to plate tectonic activity. The shifting of the Earth’s plates creates large-scale changes to continental masses, which impacts ocean and atmospheric currents, and triggers volcanic activity that releases carbon dioxide into the air.

How Humans Adapted to Ice Age's Harsh Climate - One significant outcome of the recent ice age was the development of Homo sapiens. Humans adapted to the harsh climate by developing such tools as the bone needle to sew warm clothing and used the land bridges to spread to new regions. By the start of the warmer Holocene epoch, humans were in position to take advantage of the favorable conditions by developing agricultural and domestication techniques. Meanwhile, the mastodons, saber-toothed cats, giant ground sloths and other megafauna that reigned during the glacial period went extinct by its end.

The reasons for the disappearance of these giants, from human hunting to disease, are among the ice age mysteries that have yet to be fully explained. Scientists continue to study the evidence of these important periods, both to gain more insight into the Earth’s history and to help determine future climatic events.’ (Source)

“Well class that’s about it for today,” says Rip.  “I hope that you enjoyed learning this. In the next few weeks we are going to be discussing other ages. For the next class we will be discussing the Stone Age. The cavemen learned all about tools, hunting and gathering.”

Let’s continue - The Stone Age c2500000-3200 BC

Start at the beginning – Tiffi goes back to school to learn about the prehistoric ages