New York Times: There`s long been a general picture of the climate of the Holocene, the period of Earth history since the last ice age ended around 12,000 years ago. It goes like this: After a sharp stuttery warm-up following that big chill - to temperatures warmer than today - the climate cools, with the decline reaching bottom around 200 years ago in the period widely called the "little ice age." (A graph produced by Robert Rohde for his Global Warming Art Web site years ago nicely captures the general picture.)...