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WHEN IS THE NEXT ICE AGE?

How It Works UK

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Issue 203

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

- SCOTT DUTFIELD

WHEN IS THE NEXT ICE AGE?

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.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE How It Works UK

How It Works UK

INSIDE TRUMP'S 'PALACE IN THE SKY'

This luxurious intercontinental jumbo jet will be the US president's new Air Force One

time to read

3 mins

Issue 206

How It Works UK

Why are we still sending probes to Mars?

Mars is perhaps the most interesting, and certainly the most Earth-like world in the Solar System, and there's a huge amount still to find out about it.

time to read

1 min

Issue 206

How It Works UK

How It Works UK

BURMESE PYTHONS HAVE CELLS THAT HELP THEM DIGEST ENTIRE SKELETONS

Researchers found that specialised cells in Burmese pythons' intestinal lining process calcium from the bones of their meals. This helps explain how these predators digest whole prey.

time to read

1 min

Issue 206

How It Works UK

How It Works UK

DISCOVERING THE TITANIC

Finding the remains of this iconic liner on the seabed was no easy feat, but after more than seven decades the wreckage revealed itself

time to read

6 mins

Issue 206

How It Works UK

Melting glaciers could trigger volcanic eruptions around the globe

Melting glaciers could make volcanic eruptions more explosive and frequent, worsening climate change in the process, scientists have warned. Hundreds of volcanoes in Antarctica, Russia, New Zealand and North America rest beneath glaciers. But as the planet warms and these ice sheets melt and retreat, these volcanoes are likely to become more active, according to the authors of a new study analysing the activity of six volcanoes in southern Chile during the last ice age. “Glaciers tend to suppress the volume of eruptions from the volcanoes beneath them. But as glaciers retreat due to climate change, our findings suggest these volcanoes go on to erupt more frequently and more explosively,” said Pablo Moreno Yaeger, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

time to read

2 mins

Issue 206

How It Works UK

How It Works UK

The world's dams hold so much water they've shifted Earth's poles

The construction of thousands of dams since 1835 has caused Earth's poles to wobble, new research suggests. Scientists found that large dams hold so much water, they redistribute mass around the globe, shifting the position of Earth's crust relative to the mantle, the planet's middle layer. Earth's mantle is gooey, and the crust forms a solid shell that can slide around on top of it. Weight on the crust that causes it to shift relative to the mantle also shifts the location of Earth's poles. \"Any movement of mass within the Earth or on its surface changes the orientation of the rotation axis relative to the crust, a process termed true polar wander,\" researchers wrote in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

time to read

2 mins

Issue 206

How It Works UK

WHY WE STUDY SPACE DUST

Long ignored by scientists, cosmic dust is becoming an increasingly important field of study

time to read

2 mins

Issue 206

How It Works UK

How It Works UK

HOW DINOSAURS BECAME BIRDS

Dinosaurs were prehistoric egg-laying reptiles that went extinct millions of years ago, but their survivors still live among us

time to read

5 mins

Issue 206

How It Works UK

How It Works UK

WHY ARE SMOKE DETECTORS RADIOACTIVE?

These devices use a radioactive element to help sniff out smoke and alert you to a potential fire

time to read

2 mins

Issue 206

How It Works UK

How It Works UK

SALLY RIDE MEMORABILIA COLLECTION SELLS FOR OVER £100,000

A set of memorabilia chronicling Sally Ride’s pioneering path to space just fetched a pretty penny at auction.

time to read

1 min

Issue 206

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