The fascinating story of how a harsh terrain that resembled modern Antarctica has been transformed gradually into the forests, grasslands, and wetlands we know today.

A mesmerizing overview of the world as it was when glaciers covered the earth and long-extinct creatures like the woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats battled to survive. Go back 20,000 years ago to a time of much colder global temperatures when glaciers and extensive sheets of ice covered much of our planet. As these sheets traveled, they caused enormous changes in the Earth's landscape and climate, leading to the evolution of creatures such as giant armadillos, saber-toothed cats, and woolly mammoths as well as club-wielding Neanderthals and later the cleverer modern humans. Nico Medina re-creates this harsh ancient world in a vivid and easy-to-read narrative.

It is not possible to understand the present or future climate unless scientists can account for the enormous and rapid cycles of glaciation that have taken place over the last million years, and which are expected to continue into the future. A great deal has happened in the theory of the ice ages over the last decade, and it is now widley accepted that ice ages are driven by changes in the Earth's orbit. The study of ice ages is very inter-disciplinary, covering geology, physics, glaciology, oceanography, atmospheric science, planetary orbit calculations astrophysics and statistics.

In this engrossing and accessible book, Doug Macdougall explores the causes and effects of ice ages that have gripped our planet throughout its history, from the earliest known glaciation—nearly three billion years ago—to the present. Following the development of scientific ideas about these dramatic events, Macdougall traces the lives of many of the brilliant and intriguing characters who have contributed to the evolving understanding of how ice ages come about. As it explains how the great Pleistocene Ice Age has shaped the earth's landscape and influenced the course of human evolution, Frozen Earth also provides a fascinating look at how science is done, how the excitement of discovery drives scientists to explore and investigate, and how timing and chance play a part in the acceptance of new scientific ideas. Macdougall describes the awesome power of cataclysmic floods that marked the melting of the glaciers of the Pleistocene Ice Age. He probes the chilling evidence for "Snowball Earth," an episode far back in the earth's past that may have seen our planet encased in ice from pole to pole. He discusses the accumulating evidence from deep-sea sediment cores, as well as ice cores from Greenland and the Antarctic, that suggests fast-changing ice age climates may have directly impacted the evolution of our species and the course of human migration and civilization. Frozen Earth also chronicles how the concept of the ice age has gripped the imagination of scientists for almost two centuries. It offers an absorbing consideration of how current studies of Pleistocene climate may help us understand earth's future climate changes, including the question of when the next glacial interval will occur.

The acclaimed Dutch painter and illustrator of the enormously successful Gnomes takes readers back hundreds of thousands of years to the Ice Age. Through more than 220 pages of full-color illustrations and incisive text, Rien Poortvliet presents an up-close look at real and imaginary Ice Age animals.

Funny graphic novels for young readers.

"John and Mary Gribbin tell the remarkable story of how we came to understand the phenomenon of Ice Ages, focusing on the key personalities obsessed with the search for answers. How frequently do Ice Ages occur? How do astronomical rhythms affect the Earth's climate? Have there always been two polar ice caps? Is it true that tiny changes in the heat balance of the Earth could plunge us back into full Ice Age conditions? With startling new material on how the last major Ice Epoch could have hastened human evolution, Ice Age explains why the Earth was once covered in ice - and how that made us human."--BOOK JACKET.

In this Very Short Introduction Bill McGuire explores the potential catastrophes facing our planet. Assessing both the probability of these events happening in the future, and our chances of survival, this new edition brings our understanding of global disasters and risk research up to date, by using recent case studies from around the world.

At the end of the Ice Age, small groups of hunter-gatherers crossed from Siberia to Alaska and began the last chapter in the human settlement of the earth. Many left little or no trace. But one group, the Early Paleo-Indians, exploded onto the archaeological record about 11,500 radiocarbon years ago and expanded rapidly throughout North America, sending splinter groups into Central and perhaps South America as well. Journey to the Ice Age explores the challenges faced by the Early Paleo-Indians of northeastern North America. A revealing, autobiographical account, this is at once a captivating record of Storck's discoveries and an introduction to the practice, challenges, and spirit of archaeology.