Extent of the Pleistocene glaciers. Evidence of ice ages and their climates.
Ice age is a period in the earth's history when ice sheets cover vast regions of land.
Ice ages alternate with interglacial periods, when the ice sheets mostly disappear. The most recent ice age ended about 11,500 years ago. Most earth scientists expect that another ice age will follow the interglacial period in which we now live. Ice Age Ice ages occur during times known as glacial epochs. The earth has had several glacial epochs.