Editing Last Interglacial

{{short description|Interglacial period which began 130,000 years ago}}
[[Image:EPICA delta D plot.svg|thumb|right|Two ice core temperature records; the Last Interglacial is at a depth of about 1500–1800 meters in the lower graph]]
[[File:Carbon Dioxide 800kyr.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|{{CO2}} concentrations over the last 800,000 years as measured from ice cores]]
The '''Last Interglacial''', also known as the '''Eemian''', was the [[interglacial period]] which began about 130,000 years ago at the end of the [[Penultimate Glacial Period]] and ended about 115,000 years ago at the beginning of the [[Last Glacial Period]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dahl-Jensen |first1=D. |last2=Albert |first2=M. R. |last3=Aldahan |first3=A. |last4=Azuma |first4=N. |last5=Balslev-Clausen |first5=D. |last6=Baumgartner |first6=M. |last7=Berggren |first7=A.-M. |last8=Bigler |first8=M. |last9=Binder |first9=T. |last10=Blunier |first10=T. |last11=Bourgeois |first11=J. C. |last12=Brook |first12=E. J. |last13=Buchardt |first13=S. L. |last14=Buizert |first14=C. |last15=Capron |first15=E. |display-authors=6 |year=2013 |title=Eemian interglacial reconstructed from a Greenland folded ice core |url=http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/500331/1/2012-07-09846-NEEM_revised.pdf |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=493 |issue=7433 |pages=489–494 |bibcode=2013Natur.493..489N |doi=10.1038/nature11789 |pmid=23344358 |s2cid=4420908 |last16=Chappellaz |first16=J. |last17=Chung |first17=J. |last18=Clausen |first18=H. B. |last19=Cvijanovic |first19=I. |last20=Davies |first20=S. M. |last21=Ditlevsen |first21=P. |last22=Eicher |first22=O. |last23=Fischer |first23=H. |last24=Fisher |first24=D. A. |last25=Fleet |first25=L. G. |last26=Gfeller |first26=G. |last27=Gkinis |first27=V. |last28=Gogineni |first28=S. |last29=Goto-Azuma |first29=K. |last30=Grinsted |first30=A.}}</ref> It corresponds to [[Marine Isotope Stage 5|Marine Isotope Stage 5e]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shackleton |first1=Nicholas J. |last2=Sánchez-Goñi |first2=Maria Fernanda |last3=Pailler |first3=Delphine |last4=Lancelot |first4=Yves |year=2003 |title=Marine Isotope Substage 5e and the Eemian Interglacial |url=http://www.colorado.edu/geography/class_homepages/geog_5241_f09/media/Readings/shackletonetal.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=[[Global and Planetary Change]] |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=151–155 |bibcode=2003GPC....36..151S |citeseerx=10.1.1.470.1677 |doi=10.1016/S0921-8181(02)00181-9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183334/http://www.colorado.edu/geography/class_homepages/geog_5241_f09/media/Readings/shackletonetal.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-03 |access-date=2014-08-07}}</ref> It was the second-to-latest interglacial period of the current Ice Age, the most recent being the [[Holocene]] which extends to the present day (having followed the [[last glacial period]]). During the Last Interglacial, the proportion of {{CO2}} in the atmosphere was about 280 parts per million.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mashable.com/2018/08/27/earth-warmest-temperatures-climate-change|title=Earth is the warmest it's been in 120,000 years|first=Mark |last=Kaufman |date=27 August 2018|work=Mashable}}</ref> The Last Interglacial was one of the warmest periods of the last 800,000 years, with temperatures comparable to and at times warmer (by up to on average 2 degrees Celsius) than the contemporary Holocene interglacial,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shackleton |first1=S. |last2=Baggenstos |first2=D. |last3=Menking |first3=J. A. |last4=Dyonisius |first4=M. N. |last5=Bereiter |first5=B. |last6=Bauska |first6=T. K. |last7=Rhodes |first7=R. H. |last8=Brook |first8=E. J. |last9=Petrenko |first9=V. V. |last10=McConnell |first10=J. R. |last11=Kellerhals |first11=T. |last12=Häberli |first12=M. |last13=Schmitt |first13=J. |last14=Fischer |first14=H. |last15=Severinghaus |first15=J. P. |date=2020-01-02 |title=Global ocean heat content in the Last Interglacial |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0498-0 |journal=Nature Geoscience |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=77–81 |doi=10.1038/s41561-019-0498-0 |bibcode=2020NatGe..13...77S |s2cid=209897368 |issn=1752-0894}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Zoë A. |last2=Jones |first2=Richard T. |last3=Turney |first3=Chris S. M. |last4=Golledge |first4=Nicholas |last5=Fogwill |first5=Christopher |last6=Bradshaw |first6=Corey J. A. |last7=Menviel |first7=Laurie |last8=McKay |first8=Nicholas P. |last9=Bird |first9=Michael |last10=Palmer |first10=Jonathan |last11=Kershaw |first11=Peter |last12=Wilmshurst |first12=Janet |last13=Muscheler |first13=Raimund |date=April 2020 |title=Tipping elements and amplified polar warming during the Last Interglacial |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379119309205 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=233 |pages=106222 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106222|bibcode=2020QSRv..23306222T |s2cid=216288524 }}</ref> with the maximum sea level being up to 6 to 9 metres higher than at present, with global ice volume likely also being smaller than the Holocene interglacial.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Barlow |first1=Natasha L. M. |last2=McClymont |first2=Erin L. |last3=Whitehouse |first3=Pippa L. |last4=Stokes |first4=Chris R. |last5=Jamieson |first5=Stewart S. R. |last6=Woodroffe |first6=Sarah A. |last7=Bentley |first7=Michael J. |last8=Callard |first8=S. Louise |last9=Ó Cofaigh |first9=Colm |last10=Evans |first10=David J. A. |last11=Horrocks |first11=Jennifer R. |last12=Lloyd |first12=Jerry M. |last13=Long |first13=Antony J. |last14=Margold |first14=Martin |last15=Roberts |first15=David H. |date=September 2018 |title=Lack of evidence for a substantial sea-level fluctuation within the Last Interglacial |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0195-4 |journal=Nature Geoscience |language=en |volume=11 |issue=9 |pages=627–634 |doi=10.1038/s41561-018-0195-4 |bibcode=2018NatGe..11..627B |s2cid=135048938 |issn=1752-0894}}</ref>

The Last Interglacial is known as the Eemian in northern Europe (sometimes used to describe the global interglacial), Ipswichian in Britain, the Mikulino (also spelled Milukin) interglacial in Russia, the Kaydaky in Ukraine, the Valdivia interglacial in [[Chile]], and the Riss-Würm interglacial in the [[Alps]]. Depending on how a specific publication defines the [[Sangamonian]] Stage of North America, the Last Interglacial is equivalent to either all or part of it.

The period falls into the [[Middle Paleolithic]] and is of some interest for the evolution of [[anatomically modern human]]s, who were present in [[Western Asia]] ([[Skhul and Qafzeh hominins]]) as well as in [[Peopling of Africa|Southern Africa]] by this time, representing the earliest split of modern human populations that persists to the present time (associated with [[Haplogroup L0|mitochondrial haplogroup L0]]).<ref>M Richards et al. in: Bandelt et al. (eds.), ''Human Mitochondrial DNA and the Evolution of Homo sapiens'', Springer (2006), p. 233.</ref> As the most recent point in time with a climate comparable to the Holocene, the Last Interglacial is also of relevance as a point of reference ([[Shifting baseline syndrome|baseline]]) for nature conservation.

== Definition ==
[[Image:Harting 1852 - Bittium reticulatum1.jpg|thumb|''[[Bittium|Bittium reticulatum]]'' Picture from Pieter Harting (1886) assigned by him as '[[Index fossil]]' for the Last Interglacial.]] The Last Interglacial was first recognized from [[borehole]]s in the area of the city of [[Amersfoort]], [[Netherlands]], by [[Pieter Harting]] (1875). He named the beds "Système Eémien", after the river [[Eem]] on which Amersfoort is located. Harting noticed the marine molluscan assemblages to be very different from the modern fauna of the [[North Sea]]. Many species from the Last Interglacial layers nowadays show a much more southern distribution, ranging from South of the [[Strait of Dover]] to [[Portugal]] ([[Lusitanian distribution|Lusitanian]] faunal province) and even into the [[Mediterranean]] (Mediterranean faunal province). More information on the molluscan assemblages is given by Lorié (1887), and Spaink (1958). Since their discovery, Last Interglacial beds in the Netherlands have mainly been recognized by their marine molluscan content combined with their stratigraphical position and other palaeontology. The marine beds there are often underlain by [[till]]s that are considered to date from the [[Saalian]], and overlain by local fresh water or wind-blown deposits from the [[Weichselian]]. In contrast to e.g. the deposits in Denmark, the Last Interglacial deposits in the type area have never been found overlain by tills, nor in ice-pushed positions.
Van Voorthuysen (1958) described the [[foraminifera]] from the type site, whereas Zagwijn (1961) published the [[palynology]], providing a subdivision of this stage into pollen stages. At the end of the 20th century, the [[type site]] was re-investigated using old and new data in a multi-disciplinary approach (Cleveringa et al., 2000). At the same time a [[wikt:parastratotype|parastratotype]] was selected in the [[Amsterdam]] glacial basin in the Amsterdam-Terminal borehole and was the subject of a multidisciplinary investigation (Van Leeuwen, et al., 2000). These authors also published a [[Uranium-thorium dating|U/Th]] age for late Last Interglacial deposits from this borehole of 118,200 ± 6,300 years ago. A historical review of Dutch Last Interglacial research is provided by Bosch, Cleveringa and Meijer, 2000.

==Climate==
[[File:Niebla vista desde Corral.jpg|thumb|250px|View of the Last Interglacial–aged coastal terraces of [[Niebla, Chile|Niebla]] near [[Valdivia]], [[Chile]].]]

===Global temperatures===
The Last Interglacial climate is believed to have been warmer than the current Holocene.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.temperaturerecord.org/ |title = Current & Historical Global Temperature Graph}}</ref><ref>Arctic Council, Impacts of a Warming Climate: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, Cambridge U. Press, Cambridge, 2004</ref> The temperature of the Last Interglacial peaked during the early part of the period, around 128,000 to 123,000 years [[Before Present]], before declining during the latter half of the period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bova |first1=Samantha |last2=Rosenthal |first2=Yair |last3=Liu |first3=Zhengyu |last4=Godad |first4=Shital P. |last5=Yan |first5=Mi |date=2021-01-28 |title=Seasonal origin of the thermal maxima at the Holocene and the last interglacial |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03155-x |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=589 |issue=7843 |pages=548–553 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-03155-x |pmid=33505038 |bibcode=2021Natur.589..548B |s2cid=231767101 |issn=0028-0836}}</ref> Changes in the Earth's orbital parameters from today (greater obliquity and eccentricity, and perihelion), known as [[Milankovitch cycles]], probably led to greater seasonal temperature variations in the Northern Hemisphere.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}} As the Last Interglacial cooled, [[PCO2|''p''CO<sub>2</sub>]] remained stable.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brovkin |first1=Victor |last2=Brücher |first2=Tim |last3=Kleinen |first3=Thomas |last4=Zaehle |first4=Sönke |last5=Joos |first5=Fortunat |last6=Roth |first6=Raphael |last7=Spahni |first7=Renato |last8=Schmitt |first8=Jochen |last9=Fischer |first9=Hubertus |last10=Leuenberger |first10=Markus |last11=Stone |first11=Emma J. |last12=Ridgwell |first12=Andy |last13=Chappellaz |first13=Jérôme |last14=Kehrwald |first14=Natalie |last15=Barbante |first15=Carlo |date=1 April 2016 |title=Comparative carbon cycle dynamics of the present and last interglacial |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |volume=137 |pages=15–32 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.01.028 |issn=0277-3791 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2016QSRv..137...15B |hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0027-AE16-0 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

During the northern summer, temperatures in the Arctic region were about 2–4&nbsp;°C higher than in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ncas.ac.uk/en/climate-blog/397-warm-past-climates-is-our-future-in-the-past|title=Warm past climates: is our future in the past?|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813004809/https://www.ncas.ac.uk/en/climate-blog/397-warm-past-climates-is-our-future-in-the-past|archive-date=13 August 2018|work=The National Centre for Atmospheric Science|year=2011|author=Nathaelle Bouttes}}<!-- Bouttes states that she attended an Oct 2011 meeting "a few months ago", and refers to research papers from 2011 at the latest, so the blog date is end 2011/early 2012. --></ref> The Arctic Last Interglacial climate was highly unstable, with pronounced temperature swings revealed by [[Δ18O|δ<sup>18</sup>O]] fluctuations in Greenlandic ice cores,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Johnsen |first1=Sigfús J. |last2=Clausen |first2=Henrik B. |last3=Dansgaard |first3=Willi |last4=Gundestrup |first4=Niels S. |last5=Hammer |first5=Claus U. |last6=Andersen |first6=Uffe |last7=Andersen |first7=Katrine K. |last8=Hvidberg |first8=Christine S. |last9=Dahl-Jensen |first9=Dorthe |last10=Steffensen |first10=Jørgen P. |last11=Shoji |first11=Hitoshi |last12=Sveinbjörnsdóttir |first12=Árny E. |last13=White |first13=Jim |last14=Jouzel |first14=Jean |last15=Fisher |first15=David |date=30 November 1997 |title=The δ 18 O record along the Greenland Ice Core Project deep ice core and the problem of possible Eemian climatic instability |journal=[[Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans]] |language=en |volume=102 |issue=C12 |pages=26397–26410 |doi=10.1029/97JC00167 |doi-access=free }}</ref> though some of the instability inferred from [[Greenland ice core project]] records may be a result of mixing of Last Interglacial ice with ice from the preceding or succeeding glacial intervals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chappellaz |first1=Jérôme |last2=Brook |first2=Ed |last3=Blunier |first3=Thomas |last4=Malaizé |first4=Bruno |date=30 November 1997 |title=CH 4 and δ 18 O of O 2 records from Antarctic and Greenland ice: A clue for stratigraphic disturbance in the bottom part of the Greenland Ice Core Project and the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 ice cores |journal=[[Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans]] |language=en |volume=102 |issue=C12 |pages=26547–26557 |doi=10.1029/97JC00164 |issn=0148-0227 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The warmest peak of the Last Interglacial was around 125,000&nbsp;years ago, when forests reached as far north as [[North Cape, Norway]] (which is now [[tundra]]) well above the [[Arctic Circle]] at {{Coord|71|10|21|N|25|47|40|E|}}. [[Hardwood]] trees such as [[hazel]] and [[oak]] grew as far north as [[Oulu]], Finland. At the peak of the Last Interglacial, the Northern Hemisphere winters were generally warmer and wetter than now, though some areas were actually slightly cooler than today.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}  A cooling event similar to but not exactly mirroring the 8.2-kiloyear event is recorded from Beckentin during the E5 phase of the Eemian, some 6,290 years after the start of interglacial afforestation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hrynowiecka |first1=Anna |last2=Stachowicz-Rybka |first2=Renata |last3=Niska |first3=Monika |last4=Moskal-del Hoyo |first4=Magdalena |last5=Börner |first5=Andreas |last6=Rother |first6=Henrik |date=20 December 2021 |title=Eemian (MIS 5e) climate oscillations based on palaeobotanical analysis from the Beckentin profile (NE Germany) |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618221000501 |journal=[[Quaternary International]] |language=en |volume=605-606 |pages=38–54 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2021.01.025 |bibcode=2021QuInt.605...38H |s2cid=234039540 |access-date=6 March 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> A 2018 study based on soil samples from [[Sokli]] in northern [[Finland]] identified abrupt cold spells ca.&nbsp;120,000&nbsp;years ago caused by shifts in the [[North Atlantic Current]], lasting hundreds of years and causing temperature drops of a few degrees and vegetation changes in these regions. In Northern Europe, winter temperatures rose over the course of the Last Interglacial while summer temperatures fell.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Salonen |first1=J. Sakari |last2=Helmens |first2=Karin F. |last3=Brendryen |first3=Jo |last4=Kuosmanen |first4=Niina |last5=Väliranta |first5=Minna |last6=Goring |first6=Simon |last7=Korpela |first7=Mikko |last8=Kylander |first8=Malin |last9=Philip |first9=Annemarie |last10=Plikk |first10=Anna |last11=Renssen |first11=Hans |last12=Luoto |first12=Miska |date=20 July 2018 |title=Abrupt high-latitude climate events and decoupled seasonal trends during the Eemian |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=2851 |doi=10.1038/s41467-018-05314-1 |issn=2041-1723 |doi-access=free |pmid=30030443 |pmc=6054633 |bibcode=2018NatCo...9.2851S }}</ref> During an insolation maximum from 133,000 to 130,000 BP, meltwater from the [[Dnieper]] and [[Volga]] caused the Black and Caspian Seas to connect.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wegwerth |first1=Antje |last2=Dellwig |first2=Olaf |last3=Wulf |first3=Sabine |last4=Plessen |first4=Birgit |last5=Kleinhanns |first5=Ilka C. |last6=Nowaczyk |first6=Norbert R. |last7=Jiabo |first7=Liu |last8=Arz |first8=Helge W. |date=1 September 2019 |title=Major hydrological shifts in the Black Sea "Lake" in response to ice sheet collapses during MIS 6 (130–184 ka BP) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379119304548 |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |volume=219 |pages=126–144 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.07.008 |bibcode=2019QSRv..219..126W |s2cid=200048431 |issn=0277-3791 |access-date=21 September 2023}}</ref> During the middle of the Last Interglacial, a weakened [[Atlantic meridional overturning circulation|Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation]] (AMOC) began to cool the eastern Mediterranean region.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Levy |first1=Elan J. |last2=Vonhof |first2=Hubert B. |last3=Bar-Matthews |first3=Miryam |last4=Martínez-García |first4=Alfredo |last5=Ayalon |first5=Avner |last6=Matthews |first6=Alan |last7=Silverman |first7=Vered |last8=Raveh-Rubin |first8=Shira |last9=Zilberman |first9=Tami |last10=Yasur |first10=Gal |last11=Schmitt |first11=Mareike |last12=Haug |first12=Gerald H. |date=25 August 2023 |title=Weakened AMOC related to cooling and atmospheric circulation shifts in the last interglacial Eastern Mediterranean |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=5180 |doi=10.1038/s41467-023-40880-z |pmid=37620353 |pmc=10449873 |issn=2041-1723 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2023NatCo..14.5180L }}</ref> The period closed as temperatures steadily fell to conditions cooler and drier than the present, with a 468-year-long aridity pulse in central Europe at about 116,000&nbsp;BC,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sirocko |first1=F. |last2=Seelos |first2=K. |last3=Schaber |first3=K. |last4=Rein |first4=B. |last5=Dreher |first5=F. |last6=Diehl |first6=M. |last7=Lehne |first7=R. |last8=Jäger |first8=K. |last9=Krbetschek |first9=M. |last10=Degering |first10=D. |date=11 August 2005 |title=A late Eemian aridity pulse in central Europe during the last glacial inception |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03905#citeas |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=436 |issue=7052 |pages=833–6 |bibcode=2005Natur.436..833S |doi=10.1038/nature03905 |pmid=16094365 |s2cid=4328192 |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref> and by 112,000&nbsp;BC, ice caps began to form in southern Norway, marking the start of a new [[glacial period]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Holmlund |first1=P. |last2=Fastook |first2=J. |date=1995 |title=A time dependent glaciological model of the Weichselian Ice Sheet |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/104061829400060I |journal=[[Quaternary International]] |language=en |volume=27 |pages=53–58 |doi=10.1016/1040-6182(94)00060-I |bibcode=1995QuInt..27...53H |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref> The Eemian lasted about 1,500 to 3,000 years longer in Southern Europe than in Northern Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lauterbach |first1=Stefan |last2=Neumann |first2=Frank H. |last3=Tjallingii |first3=Rik |last4=Brauer |first4=Achim |date=12 February 2024 |title=Re-investigation of the Bispingen palaeolake sediment succession (northern Germany) reveals that the Last Interglacial (Eemian) in northern-central Europe lasted at least ~15 000 years |journal=[[Boreas (journal)|Boreas]] |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=243–261 |doi=10.1111/bor.12649 |issn=0300-9483 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Kaspar ''et al.'' (GRL, 2005) performed a comparison of a coupled [[general circulation model]] (GCM) with reconstructed Last Interglacial temperatures for Europe. Central Europe (north of the Alps) was found to be {{convert|1|-|2|C-change}} warmer than present; south of the Alps, conditions were 1–2&nbsp;°C cooler than today. The model (generated using observed greenhouse gas concentrations and Last Interglacial orbital parameters) generally reproduces these observations, leading them to conclude that these factors are enough to explain the Last Interglacial temperatures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kaspar |first1=F. |last2=Kühl |first2=Norbert |last3=Cubasch |first3=Ulrich |last4=Litt |first4=Thomas |year=2005 |title=A model-data comparison of European temperatures in the Eemian interglacial |url=http://edoc.mpg.de/256350 |journal=[[Geophysical Research Letters]] |volume=32 |issue=11 |pages=L11703 |bibcode=2005GeoRL..3211703K |doi=10.1029/2005GL022456 |s2cid=38387245 |hdl-access=free |hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0011-FED3-9}}</ref>

Meltwater pulse 2B, approximately 133,000 BP, substantially weakened the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wassenburg |first1=Jasper A. |last2=Vonhof |first2=Hubert B. |last3=Cheng |first3=Hai |last4=Martínez-García |first4=Alfredo |last5=Ebner |first5=Pia-Rebecca |last6=Li |first6=Xianglei |last7=Zhang |first7=Haiwei |last8=Sha |first8=Lijuan |last9=Tian |first9=Ye |last10=Edwards |first10=R. Lawrence |last11=Fiebig |first11=Jens |last12=Haug |first12=Gerald H. |date=18 November 2021 |title=Penultimate deglaciation Asian monsoon response to North Atlantic circulation collapse |journal=[[Nature Geoscience]] |language=en |volume=14 |issue=12 |pages=937–941 |doi=10.1038/s41561-021-00851-9 |issn=1752-0908 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021NatGe..14..937W |hdl=20.500.11850/519155 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Trees grew as far north as southern [[Baffin Island]] in the [[Canada|Canadian]] [[Canadian Arctic islands|Arctic Archipelago]]: currently, the northern limit is further south at [[Kuujjuaq]] in northern [[Quebec]]. Coastal Alaska was warm enough during the summer due to reduced sea ice in the Arctic Ocean to allow [[Saint Lawrence Island]] (now tundra) to have boreal forest, although inadequate precipitation caused a reduction in the forest cover in interior Alaska and Yukon Territory despite warmer conditions.<ref>[http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/archive/lite/alaska/alaska.html Vegetation and paleoclimate of the last interglacial period, central Alaska]. USGS</ref> The prairie-forest boundary in the [[Great Plains]] of the [[United States]] lay further west near [[Lubbock, Texas]], whereas the current boundary is near [[Dallas]].

Interglacial conditions ended on Antarctica while the Northern Hemisphere was still experiencing warmth.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Landais |first=Amaelle |date=16 September 2003 |title=A tentative reconstruction of the last interglacial and glacial inception in Greenland based on new gas measurements in the Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP) ice core |journal=[[Journal of Geophysical Research]] |language=en |volume=108 |issue=D18 |page=4563 |doi=10.1029/2002JD003147 |issn=0148-0227 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2003JGRD..108.4563L }}</ref>[[Image:All palaeotemps.svg|800px|center]]

== Sea level ==
[[Image:EemianErosionSurfaceGI.JPG|thumb|Last Interglacial [[erosion surface]] in a fossil coral reef on [[Great Inagua]], [[The Bahamas]]. Foreground shows corals truncated by erosion; behind the geologist is a post-erosion coral pillar which grew on the surface after sea level rose again.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1502-3931.1998.tb00513.x| title = Paleontological evidence of a brief global sea-level event during the last interglacial| journal = Lethaia| volume = 31| issue = 3| pages = 241–250| year = 2007| last1 = Wilson | first1 = M. A. | last2 = Curran | first2 = H. A. | last3 = White | first3 = B. }}</ref>]]

Sea level at peak was probably {{convert|6|to|9|m|abbr=off}} higher than today,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dutton |first1=A |last2=Lambeck |first2=K |date=13 July 2012 |title=Ice volume and sea level during the last interglacial. |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1205749#:~:text=References%20and%20Notes-,More%20Melting,10%20meters%20above%20current%20levels. |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=337 |issue=6091 |pages=216–9 |bibcode=2012Sci...337..216D |doi=10.1126/science.1205749 |pmid=22798610 |s2cid=206534053 |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kopp |first1=RE |last2=Simons |first2=FJ |last3=Mitrovica |first3=JX |last4=Maloof |first4=AC |last5=Oppenheimer |first5=M |date=17 December 2009 |title=Probabilistic assessment of sea level during the last interglacial stage. |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08686 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=462 |issue=7275 |pages=863–7 |arxiv=0903.0752 |bibcode=2009Natur.462..863K |doi=10.1038/nature08686 |pmid=20016591 |s2cid=4313168 |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref> with Greenland contributing {{cvt|0.6|to|3.5|m|ft}},<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stone |first1=E.J |last2=Lundt |first2=D.J |last3=Annan |first3=J.D. |last4=Hargreaves |first4=J.C. |date=2013 |title=Quantification of Greenland ice-sheet contribution to Last Interglacial sea-level rise |url=https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/9/621/2013/cp-9-621-2013.html |journal=[[Climate of the Past]] |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=621–639 |bibcode=2013CliPa...9..621S |doi=10.5194/cp-9-621-2013 |access-date=17 September 2023 |doi-access=free|hdl=1983/d05aa57e-0230-4287-94e8-242d43abee77 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> thermal expansion and mountain glaciers contributing up to {{cvt|1|m|ft}},<ref>{{cite journal|last1=McKay|first1=Nicholas P.|last2=Overpeck|first2=Jonathan T.|last3=Otto-Bliesner|first3=Bette L.|author-link3=Bette Otto-Bliesner|title=The role of ocean thermal expansion in Last Interglacial sea level rise|journal=Geophysical Research Letters|date=July 2011|volume=38|issue=14|pages=n/a|doi=10.1029/2011GL048280|bibcode=2011GeoRL..3814605M|doi-access=free}}</ref> and an uncertain contribution from Antarctica.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Scherer|first1=RP|last2=Aldahan|first2=A|last3=Tulaczyk|first3=S|last4=Possnert|first4=G|last5=Engelhardt|first5=H|last6=Kamb|first6=B|title=Pleistocene collapse of the west antarctic ice sheet|journal=Science|date=3 July 1998|volume=281|issue=5373|pages=82–5|pmid=9651249|doi=10.1126/science.281.5373.82|bibcode=1998Sci...281...82S}}</ref> A 2007 study found evidence that the Greenland ice core site [[Dye 3]] was glaciated during the Last Interglacial,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Willerslev |first1=E. |last2=Cappellini |first2=E. |last3=Boomsma |first3=W. |last4=Nielsen |first4=R. |last5=Hebsgaard |first5=M. B. |last6=Brand |first6=T. B. |last7=Hofreiter |first7=M. |last8=Bunce |first8=M. |last9=Poinar |first9=H. N. |last10=Dahl-Jensen |first10=D. |last11=Johnsen |first11=S. |last12=Steffensen |first12=J. P. |last13=Bennike |first13=O. |last14=Schwenninger |first14=J. -L. |last15=Nathan |first15=R. |year=2007 |title=Ancient Biomolecules from Deep Ice Cores Reveal a Forested Southern Greenland |url=http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/5130/ |journal=Science |volume=317 |issue=5834 |pages=111–4 |bibcode=2007Sci...317..111W |doi=10.1126/science.1141758 |pmc=2694912 |pmid=17615355 |last16=Armitage |first16=S. |last17=De Hoog |first17=C. -J. |last18=Alfimov |first18=V. |last19=Christl |first19=M. |last20=Beer |first20=J. |last21=Muscheler |first21=R. |last22=Barker |first22=J. |last23=Sharp |first23=M. |last24=Penkman |first24=K. E. H. |author24-link=Kirsty Penkman |last25=Haile |first25=J. |last26=Taberlet |first26=P. |last27=Gilbert |first27=M. T. P. |last28=Casoli |first28=A. |last29=Campani |first29=E. |last30=Collins |first30=M. J.}}</ref> which implies that Greenland could have contributed at most {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=on}} to [[sea level rise]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cuffey |first1=K. M. |last2=Marshall |first2=S. J. |year=2000 |title=Substantial contribution to sea-level rise during the last interglacial from the Greenland ice sheet |journal=Nature |volume=404 |issue=6778 |pages=591–4 |bibcode=2000Natur.404..591C |doi=10.1038/35007053 |pmid=10766239 |s2cid=4422775}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Otto-Bliesner |first1=B. L. |author-link1=Bette Otto-Bliesner |last2=Marshall |first2=Shawn J. |last3=Overpeck |first3=Jonathan T. |last4=Miller |first4=Gifford H. |last5=Hu |first5=Aixue |year=2006 |title=Simulating Arctic Climate Warmth and Icefield Retreat in the Last Interglaciation |journal=Science |volume=311 |issue=5768 |pages=1751–3 |bibcode=2006Sci...311.1751O |citeseerx=10.1.1.728.3807 |doi=10.1126/science.1120808 |pmid=16556838 |s2cid=35153489}}</ref> Recent research on marine sediment cores offshore of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet suggest that the sheet melted during the Last Interglacial, and that ocean waters rose as fast as 2.5 meters per century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Voosen |first=Paul |date=20 December 2018 |title=Antarctic ice melt 125,000 years ago offers warning |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=362 |issue=6421 |pages=1339 |bibcode=2018Sci...362.1339V |doi=10.1126/science.362.6421.1339 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=30573605 |s2cid=58627262}}</ref> Global mean [[sea surface temperature]]s are thought to have been higher than in the Holocene, but not by enough to explain the rise in sea level through thermal expansion alone, and so melting of polar ice caps must also have occurred.

Because of the sea level drop since the Last Interglacial, exposed fossil coral reefs are common in the tropics, especially in the Caribbean and along the [[Red Sea]] coastlines. These reefs often contain internal erosion surfaces showing significant sea level instability during the Last Interglacial.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hamed |first1=Basher |last2=Bussert |first2=Robert |last3=Dominik |first3=Wilhelm |date=1 February 2016 |title=Stratigraphy and evolution of emerged Pleistocene reefs at the Red Sea coast of Sudan |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1464343X15301072 |journal=[[Journal of African Earth Sciences]] |volume=114 |pages=133–142 |doi=10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.11.011 |bibcode=2016JAfES.114..133H |issn=1464-343X |access-date=1 January 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref>

Along the Central Mediterranean Spanish coast, sea levels were comparable to those of the present.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Viñals |first1=María José |last2=Fumanal |first2=María Pilar |date=January 1995 |title=Quaternary development and evolution of the sedimentary environments in the Central Mediterranean Spanish coast |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/104061829500014A |journal=[[Quaternary International]] |language=en |volume=29-30 |pages=119–128 |doi=10.1016/1040-6182(95)00014-A |bibcode=1995QuInt..29..119V |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref> [[Scandinavia]] formed an island due to the area between the [[Gulf of Finland]] and the [[White Sea]] being drowned. Vast areas of northwestern Europe and the [[West Siberian Plain]] were inundated.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gornitz |first1=Vivien |title=Rising Seas: Past, Present, Future |date=2013 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-231-14739-2 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78CrAgAAQBAJ&dq=eemian+scandinavia+island+inpublisher:university+inpublisher:press&pg=PA101 |access-date=August 9, 2021}}</ref>

== Fauna ==
[[File:Eemian landscape.jpg|thumb|250x250px|Collage of temperate forest environments in Europe during the Eemian, with animals including [[fallow deer]], [[aurochs]], [[Merck's rhinoceros]] and [[straight-tusked elephant]]s.]]
[[File:European_Last_Interglacial_landscapes_(cropped).jpg|thumb|270x270px|A European Last Interglacial landscape, featuring the [[straight-tusked elephant]] (background right), the [[narrow-nosed rhinoceros]] (far left), [[European fallow deer]] (foreground left), [[wild boar]] (foreground right), [[steppe bison]] (background centre left), [[wild horse]] (background centre) and [[aurochs]] (background centre right)]]
The warmness of the interval allowed temperate-adapted taxa to extend their range considerably northward, with the range of the [[hippopotamus]] (''Hippopotamus amphibius'') notably extending as far north as [[North Yorkshire]] in northern England,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schreve |first=Danielle C. |date=January 2009 |title=A new record of Pleistocene hippopotamus from River Severn terrace deposits, Gloucester, UK—palaeoenvironmental setting and stratigraphical significance |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0016787809000054 |journal=Proceedings of the Geologists' Association |language=en |volume=120 |issue=1 |pages=58–64 |doi=10.1016/j.pgeola.2009.03.003|bibcode=2009PrGA..120...58S }}</ref> though their range outside of southern Europe did not extend much further east of than the [[Rhine]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=van Kolfschoten |first=Th. |date=August 2000 |title=The Eemian mammal fauna of central Europe |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600021752 |journal=Netherlands Journal of Geosciences |volume=79 |issue=2–3 |pages=269–281 |doi=10.1017/s0016774600021752 |bibcode=2000NJGeo..79..269V |issn=0016-7746}}</ref> The temperate landscapes of Europe were inhabited by large now extinct megafauna including the [[straight-tusked elephant]] (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus''), the [[narrow-nosed rhinoceros]] (''Stephanorhinus hemitoechus''), [[Merck's rhinoceros]] (''Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis''), [[Irish elk]] (''Megaloceros giganteus'') and [[aurochs]] (''Bos primigenius''), alongside still-living species like [[red deer]] (''Cervus elaphus''), [[European fallow deer|fallow deer]] (''Dama dama''), [[roe deer]] (''Capreolus capreolus'') and [[wild boar]] (''Sus scrofa''), with predators including lions (the extinct ''[[Panthera spelaea]]'') and [[cave hyenas]] (''Crocuta'' (''Crocuta'') ''spelaea''), [[brown bear]]s (''Ursus arctos'') and [[Wolf|wolves]] (''Canis lupus'').<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last1=Davoli |first1=Marco |last2=Monsarrat |first2=Sophie |last3=Pedersen |first3=Rasmus Østergaard |last4=Scussolini |first4=Paolo |last5=Karger |first5=Dirk Nikolaus |last6=Normand |first6=Signe |last7=Svenning |first7=Jens-Christian |date=January 2024 |title=Megafauna diversity and functional declines in Europe from the Last Interglacial to the present |journal=Global Ecology and Biogeography |language=en |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=34–47 |bibcode=2024GloEB..33...34D |doi=10.1111/geb.13778 |issn=1466-822X |doi-access=free|hdl=11573/1714498 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Pushkina |first=Diana |date=July 2007 |title=The Pleistocene easternmost distribution in Eurasia of the species associated with the Eemian Palaeoloxodon antiquus assemblage |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2007.00109.x |journal=Mammal Review |language=en |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=224–245 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2907.2007.00109.x |issn=0305-1838}}</ref> The Last Interglacial ecosystems of Europe, which existed prior to the [[Late Pleistocene extinctions|global wave of megafauna extinctions]] that occurred during the following Last Glacial Period, has been suggested as a "baseline" reference point for the analysis and restoration of modern European ecosystems.<ref name=":13" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pearce |first1=Elena A. |last2=Mazier |first2=Florence |last3=Normand |first3=Signe |last4=Fyfe |first4=Ralph |last5=Andrieu |first5=Valérie |last6=Bakels |first6=Corrie |last7=Balwierz |first7=Zofia |last8=Bińka |first8=Krzysztof |last9=Boreham |first9=Steve |last10=Borisova |first10=Olga K. |last11=Brostrom |first11=Anna |last12=de Beaulieu |first12=Jacques-Louis |last13=Gao |first13=Cunhai |last14=González-Sampériz |first14=Penélope |last15=Granoszewski |first15=Wojciech |date=2023-11-10 |title=Substantial light woodland and open vegetation characterized the temperate forest biome before Homo sapiens |journal=Science Advances |language=en |volume=9 |issue=45 |pages=eadi9135 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.adi9135 |issn=2375-2548 |pmc=10637746 |pmid=37948521}}</ref>

Following the melting of the [[Laurentide Ice Sheet]], a number of North American megafauna species migrated northwards to inhabit northern Canada and Alaska during the Last Interglacial, including the American camel ''[[Camelops hesternus]],''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zazula |first=Grant D. |last2=Turner |first2=Derek G. |last3=Ward |first3=Brent C. |last4=Bond |first4=Jeffrey |date=September 2011 |title=Last interglacial western camel (Camelops hesternus) from eastern Beringia |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S027737911100182X |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=30 |issue=19-20 |pages=2355–2360 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.06.010}}</ref> [[Mastodon|mastodons]] (genus ''Mammut'')<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zazula |first=Grant D. |last2=MacPhee |first2=Ross D. E. |last3=Metcalfe |first3=Jessica Z. |last4=Reyes |first4=Alberto V. |last5=Brock |first5=Fiona |last6=Druckenmiller |first6=Patrick S. |last7=Groves |first7=Pamela |last8=Harington |first8=C. Richard |last9=Hodgins |first9=Gregory W. L. |last10=Kunz |first10=Michael L. |last11=Longstaffe |first11=Fred J. |last12=Mann |first12=Daniel H. |last13=McDonald |first13=H. Gregory |last14=Nalawade-Chavan |first14=Shweta |last15=Southon |first15=John R. |date=2014-12-30 |title=American mastodon extirpation in the Arctic and Subarctic predates human colonization and terminal Pleistocene climate change |url=https://pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1416072111 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=111 |issue=52 |pages=18460–18465 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1416072111 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=4284604 |pmid=25453065}}</ref> the large ground sloth ''[[Megalonyx jeffersonii]],'' and the bear sized giant beaver ''[[Castoroides]],'' with the lower latitudes of Canada being inhabited (in addition to the aformentioned taxa) by species like [[Columbian mammoth]] (''Mammuthus columbi''), [[stag-moose]] (''Cervalces''), and the llama ''[[Hemiauchenia]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Harington |first=C. Richard |date=2007-12-18 |title=Vertebrates of the Last Interglaciation in Canada: A Review, with New Data |url=http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/032837ar |journal=Géographie physique et Quaternaire |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=375–387 |doi=10.7202/032837ar |issn=1492-143X}}</ref> The [[steppe bison]] (''Bison priscus'') migrated into the heartlands of North America from Alaska at the beginning of the Last Interglacial, giving rise to the giant long-horned bison ''[[Bison latifrons]]'' (which is first known from the Snowmass site in Colorado, dating to around 120,000 years ago) and ultimately all North American bison species, and marking the beginning of the [[Rancholabrean]] faunal age in North America.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Froese |first1=Duane |last2=Stiller |first2=Mathias |last3=Heintzman |first3=Peter D. |last4=Reyes |first4=Alberto V. |last5=Zazula |first5=Grant D. |last6=Soares |first6=André E. R. |last7=Meyer |first7=Matthias |last8=Hall |first8=Elizabeth |last9=Jensen |first9=Britta J. L. |last10=Arnold |first10=Lee J. |last11=MacPhee |first11=Ross D. E. |date=March 28, 2017 |title=Fossil and genomic evidence constrains the timing of bison arrival in North America |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=114 |issue=13 |pages=3457–3462 |bibcode=2017PNAS..114.3457F |doi=10.1073/pnas.1620754114 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=5380047 |pmid=28289222 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Also during this time period the [[American lion]] (''Panthera atrox'') appeared and become widespread across North America, having descended from populations of the Eurasian cave lion (''[[Panthera spelaea]]'') that had migrated into Alaska during the preceding Penultimate Glacial Period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bravo-Cuevas |first1=Victor Manuel |last2=Priego-Vargas |first2=Jaime |last3=Cabral-Perdomo |first3=Miguel Ángel |last4=Pineda Maldonado |first4=Marco Antonio |date=2016-07-20 |title=First occurrence of &lt;i&gt;Panthera atrox&lt;/i&gt; (Felidae, Pantherinae) in the Mexican state of Hidalgo and a review of the record of felids from the Pleistocene of Mexico |url=https://fr.copernicus.org/articles/19/131/2016/ |journal=Fossil Record |language=en |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=131–141 |doi=10.5194/fr-19-131-2016 |doi-access=free |issn=2193-0074}}</ref>

The range of cold-adapted taxa like the [[woolly mammoth]] (''Mammuthus primigenius'') contracted towards [[Refugium (population biology)|refugia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nogués-Bravo |first1=David |last2=Rodríguez |first2=Jesús |last3=Hortal |first3=Joaquín |last4=Batra |first4=Persaram |last5=Araújo |first5=Miguel B |date=2008-04-01 |editor-last=Barnosky |editor-first=Anthony |title=Climate Change, Humans, and the Extinction of the Woolly Mammoth |journal=PLOS Biology |language=en |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=e79 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060079 |issn=1545-7885 |pmc=2276529 |pmid=18384234 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Paleoanthropology ==
[[Neanderthal]]s managed to colonise the higher latitudes of Europe during this time interval, after having retreated from the region due to unfavourable conditions during the Penultimate Glacial Period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Roebroeks |first1=Wil |last2=MacDonald |first2=Katharine |last3=Scherjon |first3=Fulco |last4=Bakels |first4=Corrie |last5=Kindler |first5=Lutz |last6=Nikulina |first6=Anastasia |last7=Pop |first7=Eduard |last8=Gaudzinski-Windheuser |first8=Sabine |date=2021-12-17 |title=Landscape modification by Last Interglacial Neanderthals |journal=Science Advances |language=en |volume=7 |issue=51 |pages=eabj5567 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abj5567 |issn=2375-2548 |pmc=8673775 |pmid=34910514|bibcode=2021SciA....7.5567R }}</ref> However, unlike previous interglacials, they were absent from Britain, likely due to Britain being an island during this time.<ref>{{Citation |last1=G. Lewis |first1=Simon |title=Testing Human Presence During the Last Interglacial (MIS 5e): A Review of the British Evidence |date=2011 |work=Developments in Quaternary Sciences |volume=14 |pages=125–164 |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B9780444535979000091 |access-date=2024-06-26 |publisher=Elsevier |language=en |doi=10.1016/b978-0-444-53597-9.00009-1 |isbn=978-0-444-53597-9 |last2=Ashton |first2=Nick |last3=Jacobi |first3=Roger}}</ref> During the Last Interglacial, Neanderthals engaged in a variety of food-gathering activities, including fishing,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zilhão |first1=J. |last2=Angelucci |first2=D. E. |last3=Igreja |first3=M. Araújo |last4=Arnold |first4=L. J. |last5=Badal |first5=E. |last6=Callapez |first6=P. |last7=Cardoso |first7=J. L. |last8=d’Errico |first8=F. |last9=Daura |first9=J. |last10=Demuro |first10=M. |last11=Deschamps |first11=M. |last12=Dupont |first12=C. |last13=Gabriel |first13=S. |last14=Hoffmann |first14=D. L. |last15=Legoinha |first15=P. |date=2020-03-27 |title=Last Interglacial Iberian Neandertals as fisher-hunter-gatherers |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaz7943 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=367 |issue=6485 |doi=10.1126/science.aaz7943 |pmid=32217702 |hdl=2445/207289 |issn=0036-8075|hdl-access=free }}</ref> as well as big-game hunting, including the largest animals living in Europe at the time, straight-tusked elephants.<ref name=":02">{{cite journal |last1=Gaudzinski-Windheuser |first1=Sabine |last2=Kindler |first2=Lutz |last3=MacDonald |first3=Katharine |last4=Roebroeks |first4=Wil |year=2023 |title=Hunting and processing of straight-tusked elephants 125.000 years ago: Implications for Neanderthal behavior |journal=Science Advances |volume=9 |issue=5 |pages=eadd8186 |bibcode=2023SciA....9D8186G |doi=10.1126/sciadv.add8186 |pmc=9891704 |pmid=36724231}}</ref> Modern humans were present outside Africa in Arabia during this interval, as far east as the [[Persian Gulf]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nicholson |first1=Samuel Luke |last2=Hosfield |first2=Rob |last3=Groucutt |first3=Huw S. |last4=Pike |first4=Alistair W.G. |last5=Fleitmann |first5=Dominik |date=June 2021 |title=Beyond arrows on a map: The dynamics of Homo sapiens dispersal and occupation of Arabia during Marine Isotope Stage 5 |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0278416521000027 |journal=Journal of Anthropological Archaeology |language=en |volume=62 |pages=101269 |doi=10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101269}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Marine Isotope Stage 5]]
*[[Paleoclimatology]]
*[[Timeline of glaciation]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite journal |last=Bosch |first=J. H. A. |author2=Cleveringa, P. |author3=Meijer, T. |year=2000 |title=The Eemian stage in the Netherlands: history, character and new research |journal=Netherlands Journal of Geosciences |volume=79 |issue=2/3 |pages=135–145 |doi=10.1017/S0016774600021673 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2000NJGeo..79..135B }}
* Cleveringa, P., Meijer, T., van Leeuwen, R.J.W., de Wolf, H., Pouwer, R., Lissenberg T. and Burger, A.W., 2000. ''[https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/28713/article.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y The Eemian stratotype locality at Amersfoort in the central Netherlands: a re-evaluation of old and new data].'' Geologie & Mijnbouw / Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 79(2/3): 197–216.
* Harting, P., 1875. ''Le système Éemien'' Archives Néerlandaises Sciences Exactes et Naturelles de la Société Hollandaise des Sciences (Harlem), 10: 443–454.
* Harting, P., 1886. ''Het Eemdal en het Eemstelsel'' Album der Natuur, 1886: 95–100.
*{{cite journal |last=Overpeck |first=Jonathan T. |year=2006 |title=Paleoclimatic Evidence for Future Ice-Sheet Instability and Rapid Sea-Level Rise |journal=Science |volume=311 |issue=5768 |pages=1747–1750 |doi=10.1126/science.1115159 |url= http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1188&context=usgsstaffpub|pmid=16556837 |bibcode = 2006Sci...311.1747O |s2cid=36048003 |display-authors=etal}}
* Lorié, J., 1887. ''Contributions a la géologie des Pays Bas III. Le Diluvium plus récent ou sableux et le système Eémien'' Archives Teyler, Ser. II, Vol. III: 104–160.
*{{ cite journal | last = Müller | first = Ulrich C. | year = 2005 | title = Cyclic climate fluctuations during the last interglacial in central Europe | journal = Geology | volume = 33 | issue = 6 | pages = 449–452 | doi = 10.1130/G21321.1 |bibcode = 2005Geo....33..449M |display-authors=etal}}
* Spaink, G., 1958. ''De Nederlandse Eemlagen, I: Algemeen overzicht.'' Wetenschappelijke Mededelingen Koninklijke Nederlandse Natuurhistorische Vereniging 29, 44 pp.
* Van Leeuwen, R.J., Beets, D., Bosch, J.H.A., Burger, A.W., Cleveringa, P., van Harten, D., Herngreen, G.F.W., Langereis, C.G., Meijer, T., Pouwer, R., de Wolf, H., 2000. ''[https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/28714/article.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y Stratigraphy and integrated facies analysis of the Saalian and Eemian sediments in the Amsterdam-Terminal borehole, the Netherlands].'' Geologie en Mijnbouw / Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 79, 161–196.
* Van Voorthuysen, J.H., 1958. ''Foraminiferen aus dem Eemien (Riss-Würm-Interglazial) in der Bohrung Amersfoort I (Locus Typicus). '' Mededelingen Geologische Stichting NS 11(1957), 27–39.
* Zagwijn, W.H., 1961. ''Vegetation, climate and radiocarbon datings in the Late Pleistocene of the Netherlands. Part 1: Eemian and Early Weichselian.'' Mededelingen Geologische Stichting NS 14, 15–45.

==External links==
* [http://www.foraminifera.eu/querydb.php?formation=Eemian+Interglacial&aktion=suche www.foraminifera.eu Foraminifera (Microfossils) of the Eemian Interglacial ]

{{Continental Glaciations}}
{{North German glaciations}}
{{Alpine glaciations}}

[[Category:Interglacials]]
[[Category:Paleoclimatology]]
[[Category:Pleistocene]]