Interglacial Climates

Studies of the duration and stability of previous interglacials provide insight into recent climate trends and the future of our current interglacial.  Studies of the last interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 5; MIS 5) and an interglacial ~400,000 years ago (MIS 11) are especially relevant because they were both relatively warm, yet characterized by different orbital geometries.  The orbital geometry of MIS 11 was most like the current interglacial, and many consider it the best analogue of the Holocene.