Why Is It Called the Younger Dryas?

James H. Sterling
James H. Sterling
• • 7 min read

About 14,500 Year's Ago, Earth's Climate Began to Shift from a Cold Glacial World to a Warmer Interglacial State. .. . This Near-Glacial Period Glacial Period...

Why Is It Called the Younger Dryas?

About 14,500 years ago, Earth's climate began to shift from a cold glacial world to a warmer interglacial state. ... This near-glacial period

glacial period
We call times with large ice sheets “glacial periods” (or ice ages) and times without large ice sheets “interglacial periods.” The most recent glacial period occurred between about 120,000 and 11,500 years ago. ... Since then, Earth has been in an interglacial period called the Holocene.
is called the Younger Dryas, named after a flower (Dryas octopetala) that grows in cold conditions and that became common in Europe during this time.

When was the Older Dryas?

The Older Dryas was a stadial (cold) period between the Bølling and Allerød interstadials (warmer phases), about 14,000 years Before Present), towards the end of the Pleistocene. Its date is not well defined, with estimates varying by 400 years, but its duration is agreed to have been around 200 years.

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Who discovered the Younger Dryas?

The discovery of the YD

Nathorst (1870) found leaves of Dryas octopetala and other Arctic plants in freshwater clay in Scania, southernmost Sweden. The leaves were not very abundant; Nathorst wrote that if he was able to get out one identifiable leaf per day, he was happy.

James H. Sterling

James H. Sterling

Environmental Science & Climate Journalist
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James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.