Bhattacharya et al. present evidence that expansion of the North American Monsoon explains a wetter southwest in the mid-Pliocene and suggest this mechanism can explain current monsoon variations.
Pliocene
Posted inFeatures
Lina C. Pérez-Ángel: Proud to Study Paleoclimate in Colombia
As a young Latina, Pérez-Ángel brings a fresh perspective to paleoclimatology.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Irtysh River Drove Arctic Sea Ice Expansion 3 Million Years Ago
The Siberian river’s creation caused a massive influx of fresh water into the Kara Sea and radically changed the Arctic Ocean and Earth’s climate.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Researchers Home in on the Age of the Yangtze River
Findings on the river’s age also have implications for past landscape change in Asia.
Posted inNews
Dust on the Wind
A new study confirms that an important wind system is shifting due to climate change.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Ancient Sea Levels in South Africa May Offer Modern Analogues
Largely spared from disruptive tectonic activity, the South African coastline offers a natural setting to study sea levels from when Earth’s atmospheric carbon dioxide last reached today’s levels.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Southern Hemisphere Sediments Show Surprising Pliocene Cyclicity
New, high-resolution paleoclimate reconstructions with 100,000-year rhythms may offer insights into how Earth’s climate system operated during a time when the planet was warmer than it is today.
Posted inNews
Extinct Megatoothed Shark May Have Been Warm-Blooded
Preliminary results from a recent study may begin to shed light on why megalodons died out before the most recent ice age.
Posted inScience Updates
Dynamic Ice Sheet and Sea Level Response to Past Climate Change
PALSEA2 Workshop; Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 6–9 November 2017
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Plotting the Pliocene Polar Front
Understanding changing conditions in the south polar oceans during the warm late Pliocene period may help predict the impact of contemporary warming.