“What do you mean there was an ice age?” asked the Death Valley resident. An ice age is caused by an abrupt climate change that causes the temperature and the sea levels to go down. An ice age can last up to a couple of thousands years. During the time of an ice age, the climate was so different because it was 27 colder than today’s normal global temperatures. Even 30% of the earth’s surface was covered in snow and ice. There are many theories about the causes of an ice age. Some of the theories are the Milankovitch Astronomical Theory and changes in global sea levels. The imbalance between ocean water and fresh water can be also a possible cause of an ice age. I believe that 60,000 years ago, an ice age blanketed the earth’s surface with snow and ice
The Milankovitch Astronomical Theory is an explanation for changes in the seasons which results in the earth’s orbit around the sun. It is also based on three modifications in the position of Earth relative to the Sun: the abnormality of Earth's orbit, the tilt of Earth's axis toward or away from the Sun, and the degree of wobble of Earth's axis of rotation. The earth’s orbit around the sun is not somewhat circular; it’s more like an ellipse. Sometimes the earth is fairly closer to the sun at some times of the year. The perihelion is where the earth hits its certain point of its orbits that is closest to the sun. This usually occurs in January, making the northern hemisphere winters slightly milder. The change in timing of the perihelion occurs every 22,000 years which make the seasons more severe. The combination of the earth’s tilt cycle and perihelion timing could have caused the ice age 60,000 years ago.
Ocean levels can also cause a global ice age. Global sea level affects the overall temperature of the earth because of the heat from the sun. It’s better absorbed by water than by land. When the ocean levels are low, the more land surface becomes exposed and the overall average temperature of the planet...