Comparing hemispheres

New data from evidence found in New Zealand has revealed that the Southern Hemisphere continued to warm its way out of the ice age, even as the north temporarily plunged back into a another deep freeze. American paleoclimatologist Michael Kaplan undertook his study at the Mackenzie Country’s Irishman Stream. The Irishman valley is strewn with soil deposits and large boulders that had been pushed downstream by a glacier during the ice age. Kaplan says he and colleagues chose the valley because the team’s previous research had shown that the location remains essentially undisturbed from when it emerged from the ice — the boulders and soil have not budged since. Evidence found proves glaciers in New Zealand were retreating at the same time as the glaciers covering the northern half of the globe were on the move again.