Greenhouse - Icehouse Earth

Greenhouse–
Icehouse Earth
For the majority of Earth’s history, the planet
has been hotter than today.
Hotter periods make up some 70 percent of
the past two and a half billion years, and are called Greenhouse An artist's impression of
Earth. They can last hundreds of millions of years, with CO2 levels Icehouse Earth during the
10–20 times higher than today, and no ice anywhere on the planet. most recent glacial maximum.
Credit: Based on Crowley, T. J. ,
During a Greenhouse interval, Earth actually explodes with life. 1995, Ice age terrestrial carbon
changes revisited: Global Biogeo-
The age of dinosaurs happened during a Greenhouse. Land animals chemical Cycles, 9 (3), 377–389,
covered the continents. Reptiles swam in Arctic seas. Birds, mam- doi:10.1029/95GB01107. By
mals, and flowering plants first appeared. Ittiz (own work) (CC BY-SA 3.0
[https://creativecommons.org/
It’s been colder the other 30 percent of the past two and a half bil- licenses/by-sa/3.0]),
lion years, called Icehouse Earth. Life struggles in the most severe via Wikimedia Commons
of these times.
Within Icehouse periods, Earth has shorter cycles of glacials and
interglacials.
Glacial periods last about 80,000 years, when ice sheets cover large
parts of the continents. Interglacials last for 20,000 years or less,
and ice retreats toward the poles.
We’re living in a mild interglacial of a long-term Icehouse now.
Temperate climate for many millennia has allowed the human
population to expand to what it is today.
Human activity may be accelerating warming, but historical climate
patterns suggest that within a few thousand years we could enter
another glacial period, when ice would slowly advance again from
the poles.
Why we shift from Icehouse to Greenhouse, and glacial to inter-
glacial, are important concepts, which we’ll explore on another
EarthDate.
Fact Sheet:
EarthDate.org Episode ED 069
Background: Greenhouse–Icehouse Earth
Synopsis: For at least 2.5 billion years, since the beginning of the Proterozoic Eon, Earth’s climate has
fluctuated between icehouse and greenhouse conditions. Over this period, five great ice ages have
occurred, with durations ranging from about 30 to 215 million years. For the rest of the period—more
than 70 percent of its history—Earth appears to have been in a greenhouse state: largely ice free, even
at the poles.
 Greenhouse Earth is characterized by a lack of conti-  The late Paleozoic Ice Age lasted 100 million
nental ice sheets; high levels of carbon dioxide, wa- years during the Carboniferous and Permian
ter, and methane; and sea-surface temperatures that Periods, from 360 to 260 million years ago,
range from 28°C (82.4°F) in the tropics to 0°C (32°F) when a rapid 40-million-year transition
at the poles. occurred, turning the moist icy planet into
 The Cambrian explosion of life (~540 million a hot and windy desert planet.
years ago) occurred during a Greenhouse  The Quaternary Ice Age began 2.58 million
Earth state. years ago at the start of the Pleistocene Epoch,

 Dinosaurs evolved and thrived during the
although continental glaciation commenced
Mesozoic Greenhouse Earth period (~250 to in Antarctica as long as 34 million years ago.
66 million years ago), from the hot red deserts We currently live in a mild interglacial of the
of the Triassic to the lush tropical jungles Quaternary Ice Age known as the Holocene
that dominated the planet in the Jurassic and Epoch, which started around 11,700 years ago.
Cretaceous.  During Icehouse conditions, “glacials” and warmer
 Icehouse Earth occurs when there is a long-term “interglacials” occur on the order of tens to hundreds
decrease in temperatures on Earth’s surface and of thousands of years.
atmosphere, leading to polar ice caps and continental  These cycles are primarily correlated to varia-
ice sheets. Five significant Icehouse Earth periods tions in Earth’s orbit around the sun. First docu-
have been recorded in the past 2.5 billion years: mented by Milutin Milanković, these predictable
 The Huronian Ice Age lasted about 200 million sequences—known as Milankovitch Cycles—
years in the early Proterozoic Eon, from 2.4 to constructively and destructively interfere.
2.2 billion years ago, causing the first of several  Orbital eccentricity indicates changes in the
shape of Earth’s orbit from nearly circular to
“Snowball Earth” phases when Earth’s surface elliptical in a 100,000-year cycle, impacting the
became entirely frozen. distance from Earth to the sun.
 The Cryogenian Ice Age lasted about 215 million  Obliquity refers to the axial tilt of Earth, which
years during the Neoproterozoic Era, from 750 to varies from 21.5° to 24.5° every 41,000 years,
impacting the intensity of seasons.
635 million years ago, causing more Snowball
 Precession describes the wobble of Earth’s
Earth episodes as glaciation reached to the rotation about every 19,000–26,000 years.
equator.  Within glacial periods, ice sheets advance
 The Andean–Saharan Ice Age lasted 30 million or retreat in much shorter pulses of colder
years during the Ordovician and Silurian Periods, “stadials” and “interstadials.”
from 460 to 430 million years ago, as volcanic
activity and weathering related to extensive
mountain building caused CO2 levels to plum-
met, chilling the planet.
References: Greenhouse–Icehouse Earth

Greenhouse Earth—The Story of Ancient Climate Change | British Geological Survey
Greenhouse and Icehouse Earth | Wikipedia
Ice Age | Wikipedia
How Often Do Ice Ages Happen? | LiveScience
Volcanoes Tied to Shifts in Earth’s Climate over Millions of Years | UT Austin JSG News EarthDate.org
Contributors: Dr. Brian Horton (UT Austin), Dr. Ryan McKenzie (University of Hong Kong), Fact Sheet:
Juli Hennings, Harry Lynch Episode ED 069

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Greenhouse–

Earth state. years ago at the start of the Pleistocene Epoch,

References: Greenhouse–Icehouse Earth

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