Dramatic vegetation changes in the past hint at dire future
August 31, 2018 by Will Wright, Australian National University
A study on dramatic changes to Earth's vegetation as it emerged from the last ice age and temperatures rose has offered clues on the kinds of transformations that will occur to landscapes with similar increases in temperature anticipated over just the next 150 years.
ANU was part of the international research team that found two-thirds of the world's vegetation underwent significant changes from 21,000 years ago until the pre-industrial era, when the Earth warmed by four to seven degrees Celsius.
Knowing the relationship between temperature change and the degree of vegetation change allowed the researchers to determine how ecosystems might be transformed under various greenhouse gas emissions models for this new study published in Science.
Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2018-08-vegetation-hint-dire-future.html#jCp
