Between 26-15 My ago, forests covering west-central North America gave way to open, grassy habitats. Now, oxygen isotope records suggest this shift is owed to drier winters and increased aridity.
Paleoclimatology
Posted inNews
Greener, Wetter Arabia Was a Crossroads of Early Human Migration
Hand axes, hippo bones, and a stack of ancient lake beds show that arid Arabia experienced intervals of humid weather, spurring pulses of human migration over the past 400,000 years.
Posted inScience Updates
Navigating Miocene Ocean Temperatures for Insights into the Future
A new temperature data portal will aid scientists in tracking and accessing paleoclimate data from the Miocene, a past warm climate interval and future climate analogue.
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Timing of Earth’s Oxygenation May Need a 100-Million-Year Revision
A new study revises estimates for when oxygen became a permanent part of the atmosphere and solves a puzzle about glaciation during the Paleoproterozoic era.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
South Pole Ice Core Reveals History of Antarctic Sea Ice
Every summer, most of the sea ice near Antarctica melts away, but its saltiness leaves a permanent record that scientists can trace back for millennia.
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Holy Water: Miracle Accounts and Proxy Data Tell a Climate Story
In 6th century Italy, saints were said to perform an unusual number of water miracles. Paleoclimatological data from a stalagmite may reveal why.
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Oak Trees Offer a Continuous Climate Record for Central Europe
A method using nonpooled, continuous stable carbon and oxygen isotopes recorded in oak trees benefits climate reconstructions.
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Red Rocks: Using Color to Understand Climate Change
A recent study on hematite formation during the Triassic may help predict the effects of climate change on contemporary monsoonal environments.
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Geologists Have a New Tool for Reconstructing the Ancient Climate
A new study of seafloor sediments finds that the temperature record in the early Paleozoic corresponds to significant shifts in the diversity of life on Earth.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Ice Age Testing Reveals Challenges in Climate Model Sensitivity
Increased reflection of incoming sunlight by clouds led one current-generation climate model to predict unrealistically cold temperatures during the last ice age.