By analyzing thousands of oak timbers dating from the 4th to 21st centuries, scientists have pinpointed the advent of a forest management practice.
history
Posted inNews
European Colonists Dramatically Increased North American Erosion Rates
Around 200 years ago, when conversion of land for agriculture became more widespread, the amount of sediment accumulating in riverbeds across the continent jumped tenfold.
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When Did Archaic Humans Control Fire?
A familiar geochemical technique shines a new spotlight on early hominin use of fire.
Posted inFeatures
A 50-Year-Old Global Warming Forecast That Still Holds Up
In 1972, Mikhail Ivanovich Budyko used a simple methodology to make climate predictions that remain surprisingly accurate today and that could serve as a new “business-as-usual” scenario.
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Rethinking Darwin’s Theory of Atoll Formation
Atolls have a long and complex history related to seafloor evolution, and Darwin’s model is only the beginning of the story.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Rising Seas and Agriculture Created Wetlands Along the U.S. East Coast
Most of the tidal marshes along the eastern coast of the United States formed within the past 6,000 years due to a combination of slowly rising seas and European colonization.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Megadrought Caused Yellowstone’s Old Faithful to Run Dry
Scientists studying wood samples preserved by Old Faithful have determined that the famous geyser was dormant for several decades during the 13th century due to a megadrought.
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A Lost Haven for Early Modern Humans
Sea level changes have repeatedly reshaped the Paleo-Agulhas Plain, a now submerged region off the coast of South Africa that once teemed with plants, animals, and human hunter–gatherers.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Ancient Ruins Reveal 8th Century Earthquake in Sea of Galilee
Research into past seismic activity shows northeast Israel is still vulnerable to large quakes.
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Podcast: The Unusual Relationship Between Climate and Pandemics
Two recent studies show how climate affects human pandemics and how pandemics, in turn, alter the environment.