] Despite the recent trend toward global warming, scientists
] have long wondered whether the earth is nearing another
] ice age, an end to the 12,000-year temperate spell in
] which modern civilizations arose. Some have said such a
] transition is overdue, given that each of the three
] temperate intervals that immediately preceded the current
] one lasted only about 10,000 years.

A New Ice Age? None Soon, Snow 2 Miles Deep Implies