Greenhouse and Icehouse Earth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The terms greenhouse and icehouse Earth refer to the prevailing global climate on a timescale of millions of years.

During a greenhouse Earth period, the planet's atmosphere contains sufficient greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane for ice to be entirely absent from the planet's surface.^{[verification needed]}

During icehouse periods, glaciers are present in fluctuating amounts; variations in the Earth's orbit may result in many ice ages, glacials, and interglacials.

The current icehouse period had its beginnings ~50 million years ago; a blooming of freshwater plants in the Arctic Ocean may have contributed to its initiation.

v • d • e Greenhouse and Icehouse Earth Greenhouse Earth (global climate where tropical temperatures may reach the poles) Icehouse Earth (global climate where ice ages are possible) Snowball Earth (ice covers whole planet in global ice age) Climate similar to Interstadials Ice Age/Glacial (expansion of ice caps) Interstadial (brief warm period during ice age, weaker than interglacial) Interglacial (longer warm period during ice age, such as today) stadial (brief cooler period during interglacial, such as Older Dryas, Younger Dryas, Little Ice Age) global ice age