<a href="http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com/img/lava_ocean_water_steam_shutterstock_q_18516.webp" rel="lightbox" title="Spark of 

Life - Archaean Eon (3.8 to 2.5 billion years ago)">
<img loading="lazy" src="http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com/img/lava_ocean_water_steam_shutterstock_q_18516.webp" align="right" width="250" 

hspace="10" vpsace="5" /> </a>

Spark of Life - Archaean Eon (3.8 to 2.5 billion years ago) 
Solid rock forms on Earth. Simple life develops and the first bacteria add oxygen to a still toxic atmosphere. The sun only has 75 

percent of today's energy output but an archaic greenhouse effect based on methane prevents an ice age. (Source: Shutterstock)


 


Oxygen Earth - Proterozoic Eon 
(2500 to 500 million years ago) 
Photosynthetic algae prosper and enrich the planet's atmosphere with oxygen. Oxidation turns rocks like these found in Texas' Palo 

Duro Canyon bright red. Many of the first anaerobic life forms vanish. Several periods of intensive glaciations, probably even a 

completely frozen "Snowball" Earth, occur.




Life Explodes - Paleozoic Era 
(500 to 250 million years ago) 
Earth’s core cooled to today’s temperature levels. The two primary landmasses, Laurussia and Gondwana, wander across the North and 

South Pole where they receive little solar energy; ice sheets grow and shrink. The proliferation of photosynthetic organisms makes 

the air breathable. Life explodes. 



Jurassic Park - Mesozoic Era 
(250 to 65 million years ago) 
Earth’s climate is dry and highly seasonal. Only coastal regions experience stable temperatures.

Humidity increases when the supercontinent Gondwana breaks up into smaller units creating more coastal regions. Temperatures are 

about 10 degrees Celsius higher than today and similar everywhere from the poles to the equator. The dinosaur population 

flourishes.


Mammals Master Earth - Cenozoic Era 
(from 65 million years ago) 
An asteroid the size of the Isle of Wight crashes into Mexico and ends the reign of the dinosaurs. The impact raises dust and soot 

that blankets the entire planet and radically changes the climate for decades. Birds and mammals replace the dinosaurs. 


<a href="http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com/img/volcano_earth_climate_history_shutterstock_q_18556.webp" rel="lightbox" 

title="Tropical Paradise - Paleogene Period 
(65 to 23 million years ago)" >
<img loading="lazy" src="http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com/img/volcano_earth_climate_history_shutterstock_q_18556.webp" align="right" 

width="250" hspace="10" vpsace="5" /> </a>

Tropical Paradise - Paleogene Period 
(65 to 23 million years ago) 
Ocean temperatures are about 10 to 15 degrees Celsius higher than today. Palm trees are growing in Greenland and Patagonia. The 

Indian tectonic plate collides with the Asian plate, forming the Himalayas. This sparks a new period of glaciation and Earth 

starts to cool down again. (Source: Shutterstock)


 

<a href="http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com/img/antarctica_ice_aerial_q_18564.webp" rel="lightbox" title="First Freeze - Miocene 

Epoch (23 to 5.3 million years ago)" >
<img loading="lazy" src="http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com/img/antarctica_ice_aerial_q_18564.webp" align="right" width="250" hspace="10" 

vpsace="5" /> </a>

First Freeze - Miocene Epoch 
(23 to 5.3 million years ago) 
The continents take their current positions. Antarctica becomes isolated from South America and is separated from warm ocean 

waters. Its forests are slowly replaced by glaciers. The cooling trend leads to increasing aridity. (Source: Reuters)

 

<a href="http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com/img/savannah_grassland_africa_shutterstock_q_18572.webp" rel="lightbox" title="Cooling Down - Pliocene Epoch 
(5.3 to 2.6 million years ago)" >
<img loading="lazy" src="http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com/img/savannah_grassland_africa_shutterstock_q_18572.webp" align="right" width="250" hspace="10" 

vpsace="5" /> </a>

Cooling Down - Pliocene Epoch 
(5.3 to 2.6 million years ago) 
Climatic patterns resemble what we experience today but global surface temperatures are still two to three degrees Celsius higher. 

The Arctic region is significantly warmer and with less ice at the poles, sea levels are probably about 25 to 30 meters higher 

than at present. Grasslands and savannas slowly replace rainforests. (Source: Shutterstock)


 


Ice Ages - Pleistocene epoch 
(2.5 million to 12,000 years ago) 
Earth’s orbit around the sun changes and the planet receives less solar energy. Glaciers advance from the North Pole and large 

parts of North America, Europe, and Asia are covered by huge ice sheets. Short warming spells drive the ice back but ice ages 

dominate. During the cold peaks, average global temperatures are about four to five degrees Celsius below current levels. 



Gulf Stream Collapses - Younger Dryas 
(13,000 to 11,500 years ago) 
The end of the Pleistocene is marked by a period of sudden cooling. The name derives from the alpine wildflower Dryas octopetala, 

which was found in ice cores from the era. Europe is particularly affected and temperatures in parts of Greenland are 15 degrees 

Celsius lower than today.

Paradoxically, the cooling probably stems from prior warming that brought a huge amount of warm fresh water into the North 

Atlantic thereby weakening the Gulf Stream. (Source: Reuters)



Great Thaw - Holocene 
(from 12,000 years ago) 
We are living in the Holocene epoch, a short interglacial warming spell. Melting ice sheets and glaciers have caused sea levels to 

rise by 20 to 35 meters. Regions that were held down by the weight of the glaciers have risen up to 200 meters. Glacial retreat 

formed the Baltic Sea. Within this epoch, there have been several short periods of warming and cooling.


 

<a href="http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com/img/colosseum_rome_q_18604.webp" rel="lightbox" title="Ups and Downs 
(3,000 B.C to 850 A.D.)" >
<img loading="lazy" src="http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com/img/colosseum_rome_q_18604.webp" align="right" width="250" hspace="10" vpsace="5" /> 

</a>

Ups and Downs 
(3,000 B.C to 850 A.D.) 
Cooling and warming periods follow one another closely. A 1000-year freeze until 2000 B.C. causes a large drop in sea levels and 

islands like the Bahamas appear.

From then until 750 B.C. warming and cooling periods alternate. Ice sheets shrink and grow with sea levels dropping two to three 

meters below today’s levels. During the time of the Roman Empire, a cold snap causes the Nile River and the Black Sea to freeze. 

(Source: Reuters)



 





Medieval Warm Period 
(900 to 1200) 
During the warmest period since the beginning of the Holocene, the Vikings settle in Greenland and Iceland. The Medieval Warm 

Period was followed by extreme weather.

Between 1276 and 1299, the American southwest was haunted by severe drought. Elsewhere, historic records document droughts, 

floods, and dramatic climate fluctuations until 1400.



Little Ice Age 
(1550 to 1850) 
Global temperatures are colder than ever before in the Holocene. The average temperature in the northern hemisphere is about one 

degree Celsius lower than today. In 1753, about a quarter of Iceland's population dies because of crop failure and famine. 

Newspapers in New England call 1816 the year without summer.




<a href="http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com/img/2005_heat_sun_q_18622.webp" rel="lightbox" title="Global Warming - The 

Anthropocene 
(1850 to present day)" >
<img loading="lazy" src="http://assets.knowledge.allianz.com/img/2005_heat_sun_q_18622.webp" align="right" width="250" hspace="10" vpsace="5" /> 

</a>
<h2>Global Warming - The Anthropocene 
(1850 to present day)</h2>
Earth experiences general warming, coinciding with the Industrial Revolution. Between 1980 and 2006 temperatures are about 0.20 to 

0.63 degrees Celsius higher than in mid-century. The scientific consensus is that these warmer temperatures are largely 

man-made—anthropogenic. Some scientists claim that the Holocene has ended and the Anthropocene has begun. Humanity has begun to 

manipulate the climate. (Source: Reuters)



Source: Allianze SE</a>

History of Earth's Climate

Fiery Birth - Hadean Eon (4.5 to 3.8 billion years ago)