In 50,000 years earth will enter into another glacial period regardless of current global warming effects.

不管目前的全球变暖效应如何，五万年后地球将进入另一个冰川期。

Within that, you have cycles of “glacial periods” and “interglacial periods”.

其中，你有“冰期” 和“间冰期” 的循环。

" We obviously don't have thermometers in the glacial period, so we have to instead look for these kinds of stand-in indicators."

“显然，在冰川时期我们没有温度计，因此我们必须寻找这些替代指示器。”

So let’s look at the Pleistocene Epoch — the most recent glacial period.

那么让我们来看看更新世时期——最近的冰川期。

6 million years ago, the ice caps expanded even more, and the Earth entered a glacial period.

260万年前， 冰盖进一步扩大，地球进入冰河期。

Imagine how much surviving the cold would have been a problem back in a glacial period.

想象一下，在冰川时期， 如何在寒冷中幸存下来是个问题。

Glacial periods over the past 6 million years promoted the selection of a set of genes responsible for the metabolism and neurohormonal regulation in cold conditions.

过去 600 万年的冰期促进了一组基因的选择，这些基因负责在寒冷条件下的新陈代谢和神经激素调节。

Just such an influx may have happened about 12,800 years ago, helping to set off a thousand-year glacial period called the Younger Dryas.

大约 12,800 年前可能就发生了这样的涌入，帮助引发了称为新仙女木期的千年冰川期。

Somehow, Gigantopithecus managed to survive the first few of these glacial periods, but 100 thousand years ago, in the Middle Pleistocene, something changed.

不知何故， 巨猿设法在这些冰河时期的前几个时期幸存下来，但在 10 万年前的中更新世，情况发生了变化。

Glacial periods are colder and have a greater ice sheet presence, while the interglacial periods are warmer and more like the Earth is now.

冰川期更冷， 冰盖更大， 而间冰期更暖，更像现在的地球。