WHEN IS THE NEXT ICE AGE?

By following Earth's journey around the Sun, scientists are able to predict the next deep freeze

- SCOTT DUTFIELD

For at least the last million years, mass glaciations, or 'ice ages' have swept across parts of Earth every 100,000 years or so. The last glacial period occurred 20,000 years ago. Known as the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), it lasted for around 8,000 years, with an enormous ice sheet covering North America and much of Eurasia. It's estimated that the global temperature during the LGM was around six degrees Celsius cooler than modern-day temperatures - for comparison, the global temperature during the 20th century was 14 degrees Celsius. However, the LGM was just the most recent period of glaciation in an ice age that began 2.6 million years ago.