Last Interglacial in the context of "Last Ice Age"

The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently defined as the time between c. 129,000 and c. 11,700 years ago. The late Pleistocene equates to the proposed Tarantian Age of the geologic time scale, preceded by the officially ratified Chibanian (commonly known as the Middle Pleistocene). The beginning of the Late Pleistocene is the transition between the end of the Penultimate Glacial Period and the beginning of the Last Interglacial around 130,000 years ago (corresponding with the beginning of Marine Isotope Stage 5). The Late Pleistocene ends with the termination of the Younger Dryas, some 11,700 years ago when the Holocene Epoch began.

The term Upper Pleistocene is currently in use as a provisional or "quasi-formal" designation by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). Although the three oldest ages of the Pleistocene (the Gelasian, the Calabrian and the Chibanian) have been officially defined, the late Pleistocene has yet to be formally defined.

The Penultimate Glacial Period (PGP) is the glacial period that occurred before the Last Glacial Period. The penultimate glacial period is officially unnamed just like the Last Glacial Period. The PGP lasted from ~194,000 years ago at the end of the Marine Isotope Stage 7 (MIS 7) interglacial, to ~135,000 years ago, and was succeeded by the Last Interglacial. The PGP approximately coincides with Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6). At the glacial ages' height, it is known to be the most extensive expansion of glaciers in the last 400,000 years over Eurasia, and could be the second or third coolest glacial period over the last 1,000,000 years, as shown by ice cores. Due to this, the global sea level dropped to between 92 and 150 metres below modern-day global mean sea level. The penultimate glacial period expanded ice sheets and shifted temperature zones worldwide, which had a variety of effects on the world's environment, and the organisms that lived in it. At its height, the penultimate glacial period was a more severe glaciation than the Last Glacial Maximum. The PGP covers the last period of the Saalian glaciation in Europe, called the Wolstonian Stage in Britain, and is equivalent to the Illinoian in North America.

An ice age is a term describing periods of time when the reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere results in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. The term is applied in several different senses to very long and comparatively short periods of cooling. Colder periods are called glacials or ice ages, and warmer periods are called interglacials.

Earth's climate alternates between icehouse and greenhouse periods based on whether there are glaciers on the planet, and for most of Earth's history it has been in a greenhouse period with little or no permanent ice. Over the very long term, Earth is currently in an icehouse period called the Late Cenozoic Ice Age, which started 34 million years ago. There have been colder and warmer periods within this ice age, and the term is also applied to the Quaternary glaciation, which started 2.58 million years ago. Within this period, the Last Interglacial ended 115,000 years ago, and was followed by the Last Glacial Period (LGP), which gave way to the current warm Holocene, which started 11,700 years ago. The most severe cold period of the LGP was the Last Glacial Maximum, which reached its maximum between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. The most recent glaciation was the Younger Dryas between 12,800 and 11,700 years ago

The Middle Pleistocene, also known by its ICS official name of Chibanian, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. The Chibanian name was officially ratified in January 2020. It is currently estimated to span the time between 0.7741 Ma (774,100 years ago) and 0.129 Ma (129,000 years ago), also expressed as 774.1–129 ka. It includes the transition in palaeoanthropology from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic over 300 ka.

The Chibanian is preceded by the Calabrian and succeeded by the Late Pleistocene. The beginning of the Chibanian is the Brunhes–Matuyama reversal, when the Earth's magnetic field last underwent reversal. Its end roughly coincides with the termination of the Penultimate Glacial Period and the onset of the Last Interglacial period (corresponding to the beginning of Marine Isotope Stage 5).