The most recent major ice age, known as the Last Glacial Period or Pleistocene Ice Age, began about 115,000 years ago and ended approximately 11,700 years ago. The end of this ice age marked the transition to the current warm period called the Holocene. So, the last ice age ended roughly 11,700 years ago, which is about 12,000 years ago from today. However, the Earth has experienced multiple ice ages over its history, with the entire Quaternary glaciation starting around 2.6 million years ago and continuing with glacial and interglacial cycles.

In more geological terms, the ice age "ended" in stages, with ice sheets beginning to melt around 18,000 years ago and the final warming phase stabilizing about 11,700 years ago. Despite this, we still live in a broader ice age period because of existing ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland.