The astonishing climatic rollercoaster that was the Ice Age formed the backdrop to human evolution for almost 2.5 million years. During this time vast swathes of North America and Europe were frequently covered by ice sheets over a mile thick, glaciers carved great valleys through the landscape and fearsome beasts including the saber-toothed cat and woolly mammoth roamed a freezing, desolate wilderness. But what caused this period of intense cold and the intervals of rapid warming that punctuated it? How did human populations survive in such an unstable and hostile world?
In this book, four leading scientists weave a seamless, compelling story out of the most up-to-date discoveries in the different fields of Ice Age research. They reveal the profound climatic fluctuations that were generated as ice sheets waxed and waned, and the myriad ways in which humans and animals coped with the changing world. As the glaciers melted 10,000 years ago, our ancestors faced a sea-level rise of some 400 feet, far in excess of the rise predicted fo rthe twenty-first century that could yet be so calamitous. The final chapter issues a warning about the future of our planet and the consequences of our profligate lifestyles.
Magnificently illustrated with dramatic landscape photography, images of our fossil ancestors and Ice Age beasts, and specially commissioned explanatory diagrams, The Complete Ice Age shows above all the fragility of our climate system and the power of humans to adapt to the most extreme environmental challenges.