What were the global regions og the world during the last Ice Age
During the last Ice Age, the world was split into very different regional climate zones than today: massive ice sheets in the far north, cold steppe and tundra across mid-latitudes, and smaller pockets of forest, desert, and tropical refuge near the equator.
Main regions
- North America: A huge ice sheet covered much of Canada and extended into the northern United States; western mountain ice also expanded.
- Europe: Scandinavia, the British Isles, and parts of northeastern Europe were heavily glaciated.
- Asia: North-central Siberia had ice coverage, while much of the rest of northern Asia was cold and dry.
- Africa: Most of Africa was not ice-covered, but it was generally cooler and drier in many areas, with shifting deserts and grasslands.
- South America: The far south had expanded glaciers, while much of the continent stayed ice-free.
- Australia and Southeast Asia: Lower sea levels exposed large land areas such as the Sunda Shelf and connected Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania into the Sahul landmass.
Big geography changes
- Sea level was about 125 metres lower than today, exposing land bridges like Beringia between Siberia and Alaska.
- Europe’s coastlines were very different, and places like the British Isles were connected to mainland Europe through dry land in what is now the North Sea region.
- Tropical forests shrank into smaller refuge areas, while tundra, permafrost, and cold grasslands spread widely.
Simple way to picture it
Think of the Ice Age world as a planet with:
- Giant white caps in the north.
- Wide cold plains in between.
- Lower seas exposing now-submerged land.
- Smaller, isolated warm pockets near the tropics.
| Region | Ice Age condition |
|---|---|
| North America | Major ice sheets covered much of the north |
| Europe | Scandinavia and nearby areas were glaciated |
| Asia | North-central Siberia had ice; much of the rest was cold, dry steppe |
| Africa | Mostly ice- free, but cooler and drier overall |
| South America | Glaciers expanded in the south |
| Australia/Southeast Asia | Lower seas joined land areas into larger connected regions |
