Recent research indicates that the uplift of the Appalachian mountains may have played a role in triggering an ice age 450 million years ago by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Read article at Scientific American News
TPE Link - Cause of glaciation

Image: View looking west to Blue Ridge from the crest of Old Rag Mountain, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Courtesy USGS. Photographer: Paul Hackley, USGS. Source