This chapter focuses on the changes that took place over the past 11.7 Ka, forming the latest interglacial: the Holocene. Insolation, the amount of heat received due to the motions of the Earth's orbit and the tilt of the Earth's axis was greatest in the Northern Hemisphere at the beginning of the Holocene, but the great North American and Scandinavian ice sheets kept the Northern Hemisphere cool until they had completely melted by the middle Holocene. The results of Mayweski, Wanner and Marcott confirm that the continued existence of ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere until around 7 Ka ago prevented temperatures from rising far despite high insolation between 10 and 7 Ka ago. The chapter also examines whether changes in carbon di oxide and methane have a significant role to play in driving the cooling seen in the Holocene.