when was the ice age

The most recent major Ice Age, known as the Pleistocene Epoch or the Great Ice Age, lasted from about 2.6 million years ago to approximately 11,700 years ago. During this period, earth experienced multiple cycles of glacial (cold) and interglacial (warm) phases, with extensive ice sheets covering large parts of the planet. The last glacial maximum, which was the peak of the last glacial period, occurred between roughly 29,000 and 19,000 years ago. After this peak, the Earth started warming, glaciers retreated, and the Ice Age ended around 11,700 years ago, leading into the current warm period known as the Holocene. The Ice Age also refers collectively to several glaciations and cooling events spanning millions to billions of years in Earth's history, but the most relevant and recent Ice Age is the one in the Pleistocene, which ended around 11,700 years ago.