Study: Human-Caused Warming Halted New Ice Age in Arctic

Human-caused global warming has halted the onset of a new ice age that began around 2,000 years ago, according to a new study published in the journal Science. Rising temperatures stopped the expansion of Arctic ice sheets by the 20th century. Researchers analyzed the Laurentide Ice Sheet in North America, using vegetation and beryllium-10 isotopes to track ice retreat. The ice sheet reached minimum size 3,000 years ago, then expanded until warming abruptly stopped its growth about 60 years ago. Climate change could delay the next ice age by hundreds of thousands of years. Scientists warn that humans are now geological agents capable of disrupting natural glacial cycles that have persisted for millions of years.