Holocene
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Context:
- By analysing Antarctic ice cores, scientists have revealed the most detailed look yet at the planet's recent climactic history, including summer and winter temperatures, dating back 11,000 years to the beginning of what is known as the Holocene.
About Holocene:
- The Holocene is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before the Present (c. 9701 BCE), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat.
- The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene together form the Quaternary The Holocene has been identified with the current warm period, known as MIS 1.
- The Holocene corresponds with the rapid proliferation, growth and impacts of the human species worldwide, including all of its written history, technological revolutions, development of major civilizations, and overall significant transition towards urban living in the present.
- In July 2018, the International Union of Geological Sciences split the Holocene Epoch into three distinct ages based on the climate-
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- Greenlandian (11,700 years ago to 8,200 years ago),
- Northgrippian(8,200 years ago to 4,200 years ago) and
- Meghalayan(4,200 years ago to the present), as proposed by International Commission on Stratigraphy.
- The oldest age, the Greenlandian was characterized by warming following the preceding ice age.
- The Northgrippian Age is known for vast cooling due to a disruption in ocean circulations that was caused by the melting of glaciers.
- The most recent age of the Holocene is the present Meghalayan, which began with the extreme drought that lasted around 200 years.