Beringia Rises

The Wisconsin glaciation period was a time, 10,000 to 75,000 years ago, when massive glaciers covered large amounts of northern North America, Asia and Europe. Scientists refer to this period as the last major cycle of global cooling, and explain that during periods of ice age global cooling, much of the Earth's water became locked up in glaciers. As a result, sea levels dropped significantly, and certain areas that were underwater eventually became exposed land. With snow freezing into surrounding massive glaciers, causing the sea level to drop significantly (up to 300 feet), the floor of the Bering and Chukchi Seas became exposed. This created the Bering Land Bridge, or Beringia. It is important to keep in mind that scientists refer to Beringia as much more than just an ancient land bridge that was either exposed or submerged below the Bering Sea. Beringia was a large landmass (34 million square miles) joining far eastern Russia and north western North America. The Bering Land Bridge was a flat, grassy, treeless plain stretching 1,000 miles from north to south. Since the climate of Beringia was so dry, glaciers never were able to form in much of the region, leaving the land bridge ice free. While it was most certainly cold enough for glaciers to have been present, they simply could not form due to the lack of moisture.