Length of the current interglacial period and interglacial intervals of the last million years

Abstract

It was ascertained that the long-term cyclical oscillations of the global climate of the Earth between glacial and interglacial states for the last million years respond to cyclical oscillations of the orbital parameters of the Earth. Cold glacial states with a period of approximately 100 ka give way to shorter intervals of warming of around 10–12 ka long. The current interglacial period—the so-called Holocene—started on Earth roughly 10 ka ago. The length of the current interglacial period and the causes of the climate change over the last approximately 50 years arouse sharp debates connected with the growing anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases. To estimate the length of the current interglacial period, interglacial intervals near ~400 (MIS-11) and ~800 (MIS-19) ka are analyzed as its probable analogs.