Ice age development theory

Abstract

The onset of the ice age era at ~2.75 Ma BP and its increasing intensity from ~1 Ma BP onwards cannot be explained by variations of the Earth’s orbit. Evidence supporting a 2.4 million km² ice sheet on the Tibetan plateau during the Last Glacial Maximum has led to the hypothesis that the resulting albedo-induced heat loss in the Earth’s atmosphere may have triggered global ice ages. Recent data obtained from marine and terrestrial sediment records now confirm the climatic ecological impact of a Tibetan glaciation; they also show that the development of Tibet’s ice sheet was synchronous with the onset and intensification of global ice ages.