An Oligocene Descent into the Cold

Greenhouse to Icehouse

Published in the EarthSphere Blog

Impressions of the Cold by CF Lovelace and WM House (©2023 Archean Enterprises, LLC, ArcheanArt)

Earth’s normal condition is hot, much warmer than today’s world. The planet formed 4.5 billion years ago, and since then it has spent about 670 million years in glacial conditions. So, the planet has been cold for about 15% of its existence. The presence of polar ice caps is a good criterion for…