The new analysis, led by scientists at British Antarctic Survey (BAS), suggests that the decline was more gradual than some previously believed and that large-scale land use changes as Europeans colonised the Americas are likely responsible.
The new analysis, led by scientists at British Antarctic Survey (BAS), suggests that the decline was more gradual than some previously believed and that large-scale land use changes as Europeans colonised the Americas are likely responsible.
The team was able to align their new measurements in the decline of CO2 with existing models of how land use changed. The arrival of Europeans to the Americas brought diseases to which indigenous populations had not previously been exposed, such as smallpox, measles and the plague. Sweeping epidemics vastly decreased the indigenous population and led to forest regrowing over land that was most likely previously managed by thriving communities.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, suggests that new, improved measurements of CO2 could greatly enhance our understanding of human driven and natural carbon cycle changes.
Read more at: British Antarctic Survey
Inside the drilling tent at Skytrain Ice Rise in Antarctica, a scientist prepares the drill for its next drop into the borehole. (Photo Credit: University of Cambridge / British Antarctic Survey)
