Paleoclimatology News

Bathymetric map of the Fram Strait gateway and downstream region; red circles indicate location of marine sediment cores. Inset: Danish historical ice chart from the early 20th century showing the extension of the Arctic Ocean-origin sea ice observed along Southwest Greenland. Image credit: Miles et al, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aba4320.

Little Ice Age Triggered by Arctic Sea Ice

Sep 18, 2020 by News Staff

The Little Ice Age, a period of global cooling that lasted from the early 14th century to the mid-19th century, was triggered by an exceptionally large...

Ankylosaurus magniventris, a large armored dinosaur species, witnesses the impact of an asteroid, falling on the Yucatan peninsula 66 million years ago. Image credit: Fabio Manucci.

Chicxulub Asteroid Caused End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction, New Study Confirms

Jul 1, 2020 by News Staff

The end-Cretaceous mass extinction 66 million years ago eradicated roughly 75% of the animal and plant species on Earth, including whole groups like non-avian...

Reconstruction of the West Antarctic mid-Cretaceous temperate rainforest. The painting is based on paleofloral and environmental information inferred from palynological, geochemical, sedimentological and organic biomarker data obtained from cores at the site of PS104_20-2, Antarctica. Image credit: J. McKay / Alfred-Wegener-Institut / CC-BY 4.0.

90-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Rainforest Discovered in Antarctica

Apr 3, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists and geologists has uncovered well-preserved fossilized roots, pollen and spores of 90-million-year-old (mid-Cretaceous...

A range of now extinct megafauna that was present when humans first arrived in Australia. Image credit: Peter Trusler, Monash University.

Study: Humans and Climate Change Drove Australian Megafauna to Extinction

Dec 2, 2019 by News Staff

Ancient Australia’s super-sized animals, the megafauna, became extinct about 42,000 years ago, but the role of humans in their demise has been debated...

The rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire occurred during a two-centuries-long interval of anomalously wet climate in the context of the past 4,000 years, while megadroughts during the early-mid 7th century BCE, as severe as recent droughts in the region but lasting for decades, triggered a decline in Assyria’s agrarian productivity and thus contributed to its eventual political and economic collapse. Image credit: Carole Raddato / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Megadroughts Likely Triggered Fall of Neo-Assyrian Empire

Nov 14, 2019 by News Staff

Climate-related megadroughts built the foundation for the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (912 to 609 BCE), the largest and most powerful empire of...

Schmitz et al argue that the mid-Ordovician ice age was caused by global cooling, triggered by extra dust in the atmosphere of Earth from the breakup of a giant asteroid in the main asteroid belt. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Dust from Disintegrated Asteroid Triggered Mid-Ordovician Ice Age

Sep 19, 2019 by News Staff

There’s always a lot of extraterrestrial dust floating down to Earth, but this dust is normally only a tiny fraction of the other dust in our atmosphere...

The occasional use of stone tools as ‘strike-a-lights’ was a technocultural feature shared among Neanderthals in France.

Study: Climate Change Contributed to Neanderthal Demise

Aug 30, 2018 by News Staff

The transition from Neanderthals to modern humans in Europe occurred during a period of recurring cold climate cycles. In a new study, a team of researchers...

El Castillo (pyramid of Kukulcán) in the ancient Maya city of Chichen Itza. Image credit: Daniel Schwen / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Enormous Drought Played Significant Role in Maya Civilization’s Collapse

Aug 8, 2018 by News Staff

There are multiple theories as to what caused the collapse of the Classic Maya civilization, such as invasion, war, environmental degradation, etc. In...

This piece of papyrus from the mid-third century BC describes a period of famine in Egypt that occurred when the Nile River failed to flood for several years in a row. It was collected from the Egyptian city of Edfu. Image credit: Department of Papyrology, Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw.

Massive Volcanic Eruptions Linked to Revolts in Ptolemaic Egypt

Oct 18, 2017 by News Staff

A Yale University-led study suggests that abrupt shifts in climate caused by massive volcanic eruptions helped to trigger poorly understood revolts —...

Prehistoric rock paintings in Manda Guéli Cave in the Ennedi Mountains, Chad, Central Africa. Image credit: David Stanley / CC BY 2.0.

Humans Migrated Out of Africa to Escape Drying Climate, New Study Says

Oct 17, 2017 by News Staff

Ancient humans left Africa to escape a drying climate, about 60,000 years ago — a finding that contradicts previous suggestions that humens were...

This painting depicts an asteroid slamming into tropical, shallow seas of the sulfur-rich Yucatan Peninsula in what is today southeast Mexico. The aftermath of this immense asteroid collision, which occurred approximately 65 million years ago, is believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species on Earth. Shown in this painting are pterodactyls, flying reptiles with wingspans of up to 50 feet, gliding above low tropical clouds. Image credit: Donald E. Davis / NASA.

Dino-Killing Chicxulub Asteroid Inhibited Photosynthesis, Cooled Earth for Up To Four Years

Aug 23, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of Colorado Boulder and NASA has used a world-class computer model...

Archean Earth. Image credit: Francis Reddy, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Scientists Propose New Contributing Cause for ‘Great Oxidation Event’

Mar 14, 2017 by News Staff

In the Archean Eon, more than 2.3 billion years ago, Earth’s atmosphere spent about a million years filled with a methane-rich haze; and this haze drove...

The last glacial period occurred from 110,000 to 11,700 years ago. Image credit: Mauricio Anton.

Simple Rule Accurately Predicts when Ice Age Ends

Feb 23, 2017 by News Staff

According to an international research team led by University College London Professor Chronis Tzedakis, a simple rule can accurately predict when Earth’s...

An artist’s illustration of a comet impact on Earth. Image credit: Don Davis / NASA.

Researchers: Comet Collided with Earth 55.6 Million Years Ago

Oct 14, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has found evidence that a comet hit the Earth at the same time a mysterious release of carbon...

Ancient Earth. Image credit: Imperial College London.

Archean Earth’s Upper Atmosphere Was Oxygen-Rich, Scientists Discover

May 12, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from Australia and the United Kingdom has made a surprising discovery about the chemistry of Earth’s upper atmosphere...

University of Copenhagen researcher Christoph Korte and his colleagues have shed light on the causes behind an ‘Ice Age’ that took place on our planet 174 million years ago. Image credit: Gerhard Boeggemann / CC BY-SA 2.5.

Scientists Shed Light on Causes behind Jurassic ‘Ice Age’

Dec 14, 2015 by News Staff

A group of researchers has found evidence of an abrupt, mid-latitude cooling of seawater during the Jurassic period, around 174 million years ago. University...

Scientists say that planetary warming will increase snowfall in Antarctica. Image credit: Eli Duke / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Antarctic Snow Linked to Global Warming

Mar 16, 2015 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change has confirmed a long-standing prediction that snowfall in Antarctica will increase significantly...

Camel caravan crosses the Sahara desert in Morocco. Image credit: Bachmont / CC BY 2.0.

Sahara Desert Formed 7 Million Years Ago, New Study Suggests

Sep 20, 2014 by News Staff

A series of climate simulations, co-led by Dr Camille Contoux of the Bjerknes Center for Climate Research in Bergen, Norway, suggests that the desertification...

An iceberg. Image credit: Doug Knuth / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Antarctic Ice Sheet Began Melting Earlier than Thought, Find Researchers

May 29, 2014 by News Staff

According to a team of scientists from the United States, Finland, Australia and Germany, the Antarctic Ice Sheet began melting about 5,000 years earlier...