Ice Ages are long times (much much longer than glaciations) when the Earth got colder, and more ice froze at the North and South Poles. Sometimes even the whole Earth was covered in ice, and was much colder than today. There is no one reason why there are Ice Ages. Changes in the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and the Sun getting brighter or dimmer are events which do happen. Also how much the Earth is tilted compared to the Sun might make a difference. Another source of change is the activities of living things (see Great Oxygenation Event and Huronian glaciation).