Traces of the Ice Age

At present, we have been living in an ice age for around 2.5 million years, a geological epoch in which there is ice on Earth and in which the curve of the global mean temperature is subject to significant fluctuations (current trend: temperature increase). At nearly 16 million square kilometers, about ten percent of the land surface is currently covered by glacial ice-and glacial ice plays a major role in shaping landscapes. This compact textbook sharpens the eye for such landscapes. It makes the forms and the shaping processes comprehensible, which the author illustrates with numerous regional examples, especially from Central Europe, such as the North German Plain and the Alpine foothills, but also from Iceland. What traces have the glaciers and their meltwaters left behind? What formation processes can be inferred? How can recent climate history, in particular that of the Ice Age, be reconstructed? It is exciting to look at current developments in glaciated areas and also to take a look at the (climate) future of the Earth. For example, the question arises as to what influence glaciers have on sea level and on future climate change. In this context, natural processes such as the ice age cycles, for which there are various ice age formation hypotheses, and anthropogenic influences in global warming must be weighed against each other.

This book combines facts and interesting questions about the "Ice Age" with the topic of "Global Warming", Both these topics are the current topics which the media addresses on an almost daily basis. The author emphasizes that we are currently living in an ice age- a geological epoch in which there are glaciated areas on a larger scale.The traces of these cold periods can be seen and traced very well in the landscape in large parts of Europe, including northen and southern Germany. The book is aimed at university students of geosciences, but it is equally suitable reading for interested people and high school students. Upon reading this book, the targeted group will be enabled to see the traces of the ice age and better understand them in the surrounding landscapes by themselves.The authorWolfgang Fraedrich teaches geology and geography education at a Hamburg secondary school and accompanies students at the "Schülerforschungszentrum Hamburg" in geoscientific research projects. He is the author of numerous textbooks and non-fiction books and is since 40 years co-editor of the journal "geographie heute", with well over 300 publications. Through numerous excursions with adults and various research trips with school groups as part of the supervision of the program "Jugend forscht", he has become acquainted with the most diverse corners of the earth. In addition to volcanism and the formation of mountain landscapes, glacial regions play a particularly important role. This book is a translation of an original German edition. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation.