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The
Quaternary period (2 MYA - present day), being the most recent, is the best
understood. During this period the positions of the continents
have remained basically the same, while the climate had
fluctuated between warm spells and a series of ice ages. The
world is currently enjoying a warm, interglacial climate.
The human species has grown and
developed throughout this time from a small population in Africa
to more than six billion individuals around the world today.
The Quaternary is sometimes
divided into two smaller periods. The Holocene extends from now
back 10,000 years, preceded by the Pleistocene. |