The last interglacial, commonly understood as an interval with climate as warm or warmer than today, is represented by marine isotope stage (MIS) 5e, which is a proxy record of low global ice volume and high sea level. It is arbitrarily dated to begin at approximately 130,000 yr B.P. and end at 116,000 yr B.P. with the onset of the early glacial unit MIS 5d. The age of the stage is determined by correlation to uranium-thorium dates of raised coral reefs. The most detailed proxy record of interglacial climate is found in the Vostok ice core where the temperature reached current levels 132,000 yr ago and continued rising for another two millennia. Approximately 127,000 yr ago the Eemian mixed forests were established in Europe. They developed through a characteristic succession of tree species, probably surviving well into the early glacial stage in southern parts of Europe.

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A sediment core from a Mediterranean karstic lake was studied through its pollen, diatom, chydorid, ostracod, charcoal and authigenic mineral composition. Information about environmental history recorded in the sediment sequence since the Middle Ages is presented. The main fluctuations of water volume and trophic status of the lake occurred during periods of great change in land management and during climatic cold phases. The synergetic effect of these two factors led to a high water level phase and triggered a rising of the trophic level which produced meromixis. The onset of meromictic conditions at about 1700 AD coincides with the Maunder minimum in the Little Ice Age as well as with a period of increasing human population, woodland clearance and agricultural expansion to the detriment of the nomadic livestock breeding or transhumance ("Mesta").

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