Saskatoon, Saskatchewan -- A University of Saskatchewan scientist said a severe bout of global cooling deemed the "Big Freeze" began in Canada nearly 12,800 years ago.
Geologist Bill Patterson said the collapse of a large ice wall at Lake Agassiz in Central Canada nearly 12,800 years ago seriously disrupted the Atlantic Ocean's circulation patterns, prompting a major cooling period for much of Europe, the Canwest News Service said Sunday.
Patterson, the Saskatchewan Isotope Laboratory's director, said circulation pattern disruption was caused by the sudden addition of the lake's freshwater.
