# Human-Driven Warming May Have Halted the Onset of a New Ice Age

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/human-driven-warming-may-have-halted-the-onset-of-a-new-ice-age/
- Published: 2026-10-30T14:57:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T00:53:52+00:00
- Original publisher: Yale E360
- Original article: https://e360.yale.edu/digest/ice-age-avoided
- Topics: Americas, Research, Science, World

## Key points

- The Barnes ice cap began expanding around 2,000 years ago.
- It started shrinking as summers warmed by the 1960s.
- Researchers say fossil fuel warming may have reversed an ice age’s early advance.

## Summary

Researchers say warming caused by fossil fuel use reversed the advance of the Barnes ice cap in northern Canada, offering evidence that human activity may have interrupted the early stages of a new ice age. The findings matter because they challenge the view that an ice age could not begin for thousands of years: the authors argue that the first growth of an ice sheet marks its onset, even if broader cooling takes much longer.

The study, published in *Science*, traced changes in the Barnes ice cap on Baffin Island, the last remnant of the Laurentide ice sheet that once covered much of North America. It found the cap began expanding around 2,000 years ago, then started shrinking when summers became warm by the 1960s. Researchers dated ancient vegetation exposed by melting ice to establish when the advance began.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.