A new study investigating ancient methane trapped in Antarctic ice suggests that global increases in wildfire activity likely occurred during periods of abrupt climate change throughout the last Ice Age.
A new study investigating ancient methane trapped in Antarctic ice suggests that global increases in wildfire activity likely occurred during periods of abrupt climate change throughout the last Ice Age.
The study, just published(Link is external) in the journal Nature, reveals increased wildfire activity as a potential feature of these periods of abrupt climate change, which also saw significant shifts in tropical rainfall patterns and temperature fluctuations around the world.
“This study showed that the planet experienced these short, sudden episodes of burning, and they happened at the same time as these other big climate shifts,” said Edward Brook(Link is external), a paleoclimatologist at Oregon State University and a co-author of the study. “This is something new in our data on past climate.”
Read More: Oregon State University
The system developed by Ben Riddell-Young to analyze ancient ice core samples. (Photo Credit: Ben Riddell-Young)
