How the ice ages ended

A study of sediment cores collected from the deep ocean supports a new explanation for how glacier melting at the end of the ice ages led to the release of carbon dioxide from the ocean.

What caused the ice ages? Tiny ocean fossils offer key evidence

The last million years of Earth history have been characterized by frequent "glacial-interglacial cycles," large swings in climate that are linked to the growing and shrinking of massive, continent-spanning ice sheets. These ...

2012: Magnetic pole reversal happens all the (geologic) time

Scientists understand that Earth's magnetic field has flipped its polarity many times over the millennia. In other words, if you were alive about 800,000 years ago, and facing what we call north with a magnetic compass in ...

Geologist discovers pattern in Earth's long-term climate record

In an analysis of the past 1.2 million years, UC Santa Barbara geologist Lorraine Lisiecki discovered a pattern that connects the regular changes of the Earth's orbital cycle to changes in the Earth's climate. The finding ...

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