All articles tagged with #ice age
Divers descended 560 steps into Gilindire Cave's submerged chamber in Mersin, Turkey, for a 90-minute dive that captured preserved Ice Age formations—stalactites, stalagmites, travertines and cave pearls—highlighting the site’s geology and potential for diving tourism.
Archaeologists analyzing the Milovice IV site in Czechia uncovered a packed 29-piece blade bundle dated to roughly 30,250–29,550 years ago, likely the personal gear of one Gravettian hunter. Preserved in a perishable container, the assemblage reveals how a single individual moved, hunted, and managed scarce resources, using tools made from materials sourced over 100 km away and repeatedly recycled. Found with hearths and animal bones, the find offers a rare glimpse into Ice Age mobility and behavior at the individual level.
Researchers analyzed tissue from a 14,000-year-old wolf pup found in Siberia and recovered the woolly rhinoceros genome from its stomach, revealing stable rhino genetics up to extinction and suggesting climate change, not hunting, as the primary driver of the woolly rhino’s disappearance.
The next ice age is unlikely to begin for at least 50,000 years, with natural climate cycles and human-induced greenhouse gas emissions delaying its onset significantly, potentially up to 500,000 years in the future.
Scientists discovered massive, mysterious tunnels in southern Brazil and northern Argentina, likely dug by extinct giant ground sloths such as Megatherium during the Ice Age, providing new insights into prehistoric animal behavior and their interactions with early humans.
Scientists warn that climate change could cause the collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), including the Gulf Stream, within decades, potentially triggering a new ice age and significant sea level rise, with Iceland declaring it a national security threat.
New images from ESA's Mars Express reveal signs of an ancient ice age on Mars, including glacial flow patterns and features like Coloe Fossae, indicating that the planet experienced significant climate changes and ice coverage during its history, even at mid-latitudes.
Earth may have a hidden, supercharged 'thermostat' involving the phosphorus cycle that could cause it to overcorrect for climate change, potentially leading to the next ice age arriving on time instead of being delayed, by efficiently burying carbon in the seafloor and accelerating cooling processes.
Earth may respond to human CO2 emissions by rapidly burying carbon in the seafloor through a newly discovered 'supercharged' thermostat linked to the phosphorus cycle, potentially causing the next ice age to occur on time instead of being delayed, although this mechanism does not mitigate current global warming effects.
New research suggests that Earth's climate regulation involves complex ocean feedback loops that could overcorrect global warming, potentially triggering an ice age in the distant future, although current human-induced warming is unlikely to cause such a rapid cooling. The study highlights the importance of understanding Earth's natural climate mechanisms and emphasizes the need to limit ongoing warming.
A UC Riverside study suggests that current global warming could trigger a future ice age due to natural climate feedback mechanisms involving rock weathering and oceanic processes, but human-induced rapid warming may disrupt these cycles, emphasizing the urgent need to limit current emissions to prevent extreme climate shifts.
Fossil analysis reveals that North American mammoth species, including woolly and Columbian mammoths, interbred over thousands of years, creating hybrids and challenging traditional views on their evolution and adaptation during the Ice Age.
A study shows that thawing permafrost after the last ice age significantly contributed to rising atmospheric CO2 levels, potentially accounting for nearly half of the increase, with natural processes being disrupted by human activities over the past 250 years.
In 1970, real estate developer Roger DeVille discovered the skeletal remains of an Ice Age female mastodon, nicknamed Bondo Betty, in Stark County, Ohio. The bones, mostly real and well-preserved, are now on display at the William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, making it one of the most complete and significant mastodon fossils in Ohio, with the discovery marking its 55th anniversary.
Researchers discovered a well-preserved ice age horse skull in a Yukon mine, estimated to be around 30,000 years old. The skull's physical features suggest it was a juvenile male, but precise species identification requires further genetic analysis. The find provides valuable insights into North American horse species during the last ice age.