Human‑induced global warming may have averted a new ice age.

Scientists studying the history of climate change examined fossil plant remains and rock formations to reveal the growth and retreat cycles of glaciers. The findings show that glaciers had shrunk during certain periods in the past, only to expand again as temperatures fell.

According to the study, a cooling trend that could have persisted under natural conditions has shifted in the opposite direction due to human‑induced temperature rises. In particular, the increase in greenhouse‑gas emissions from fossil‑fuel use has raised summer temperatures, making it harder for glaciers to grow again.

Greenhouse gases are affecting the natural cooling process.

The Earth's climate undergoes long‑term cycles driven by natural factors such as orbital variations and changes in the energy it receives from the Sun. These shifts play a key role in the expansion and retreat of glaciers.

However, greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere by burning coal, oil and natural gas alter the planet's heat balance. The accumulation of these gases traps a portion of the heat radiated from Earth into space, raising global temperatures.

This warming accelerates glacier melt while also limiting their ability to grow again during natural cooling periods.

Humanity's impact on the climate could last for thousands of years

The study's findings show that anthropogenic climate change is not limited to the temperature rises we are experiencing today. The effects of greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere could also alter long‑term climate cycles and the timing of future glacial periods.

The key point that experts emphasize is that human activities have become powerful enough to affect Earth's natural climate processes. However, the timing of a future glacial period and how much global warming will delay it will depend on the interplay between natural climate variability and the course of greenhouse‑gas emissions.