In a study published in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers used chemicals from preserved plant matter to pinpoint the processes responsible for changes in past rainfall and drought in southwestern Africa, with implications for the future.
In a study published in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers used chemicals from preserved plant matter to pinpoint the processes responsible for changes in past rainfall and drought in southwestern Africa, with implications for the future.
In September 2023, extreme rains struck South Africa’s Western Cape province, flooding villages and leaving a trail of destruction. The catastrophic devastation is just one recent example in a string of extreme weather events that are growing more common around the world. Fueled by rising sea surface temperatures from global warming, torrential storms are increasing both in frequency and magnitude. Concurrently, global warming is also producing the opposite effect in other instances, as a mega-drought recently threatened the water supply of Cape Town in southwestern Africa to the point where residents were at risk of running out of water. This one-two punch of weather extremes are devastating habitats, ecosystems and human infrastructure.
With global warming apparently here to stay, a team of paleoclimatologists from Syracuse University, George Mason University and the University of Connecticut are studying an ancient source to determine future rainfall and drought patterns: fossilized plants that lived on Earth millions of years ago.
Read more at Syracuse University
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