The Great Ice Age is also our age. The four and a half billion year evolution of the Earth and its biota culminated in the appearance of a life form capable of studying and manipulating the planetary systems. With human consciousness focusing as never before on the world around us, we are now beginning to realize the enormity of the global experiment we are conducting as the conscious forcing function in the evolution of the Earth System. This text documents and explains the natural climatic and palaeoecologic changes that have occurred during the past 2.6 million years, outlining the...

The Great Ice Age documents and explains the natural climatic and palaeoecologic changes that have occurred during the past 2.6 million years, outlining the emergence and global impact of our species during this period. Exploring a wide range of records of climate change, the authors demonstrate the interconnectivity of the components of the Earths climate system, show how the evidence for such change is obtained, and explain some of the problems in collecting and dating proxy climate data.
One of the most dramatic aspects of humanity's rise is that it coincided with the...