This chart is of 65 million years of temperature data from oxygen isotope records of deep ocean sediment cores (Zachos 2001). For the bulk of this time, Earth was so warm that there was no ice at either pole. Only in the relatively recent past has there been any ice at the northern pole. Based on these data, we are living within the coldest period in the last 65 million years (Robinson 2012). You will hear from the proponents of catastrophic warming that our temperatures are unusual and unprecedented. They are absolutely right: we are living in times that are unusually cold!

Zachos J, Pagani M, Sloan L, Thomas E, Billups K (2001) Trends, Rhythms, and Aberrations in Global Climate 65 Ma to Present. Science  27 Apr 2001: Vol. 292, Issue 5517, pp. 686-693 DOI: 10.1126/science.1059412