How Long Was the Ice Age?

The most recent major ice age, known as the Great Ice Age or Pleistocene Epoch, spanned approximately 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago. Extensive ice sheets and glaciers formed and retreated in a series of glacial and interglacial cycles during this epoch, shaping much of the Earth’s surface as we know it today.

The last glacial maximum (LGM) occurred during the final stage of the Pleistocene, approximately 29,000 to 19,000 years ago. During this time ice sheets covered about 8 percent of the Earth’s surface and sea levels were approximately 125 meters (410 feet) lower than today. The LGM marked the peak of the last glacial period, after which the Earth began to warm, leading to the retreat of glaciers and the eventual end of the Pleistocene.

The Earth has experienced a number of other ice ages, dating back at least to the Precambrian. A smaller cooling event, called the Little Ice Age occurred between 1300 and 1850 ce.