During the Pleistocene Epoch Ice Age, beginning about 2.5 million years ago, virtually all of southwestern Canada was repeatedly glaciated by ice sheets that also covered much of Alaska, northern Washington, Idaho, Montana, and the rest of northern United States. In North America, the most recent glacial event is the Wisconsin glaciation, which began about 80,000 years ago and ended around 10,000 years ago.

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Can anyone tell me what "ended" means? Can we really say that the Wisconsin Glaciation "ended" 10,000 years ago, or can we say that mountain glaciers, and to a significant extent, polar icecaps, are simply what remains of that ice sheet? Sincd people tended to inhabit the fertile plains and temperate climates (with the exception of the Inuit people), have we simply used the term "ended" because the ice sheet had receded out of view and into the north, or into the mountains?

Opinions?