Africa dramatically dried out 5,500 years ago – our new study may warn us of future climate tipping points

Image: A composed satellite photograph of Africa. Image credit: NASA via Wikimedia – Public Domain. Article by Martin H. Trauth, Asfawossen Asrat and Mark Maslin. The Conversation – May 7, 2024. Study: Nature Communications.

Around five and half millenia ago, northern Africa went through a dramatic transformation. The Sahara desert expanded and grasslands, forests and lakes favoured by humans disappeared. Humans were forced to retreat to the mountains, the oases, and the Nile valley and delta. As a relatively large and dispersed population was squeezed into smaller and more fertile areas, it needed to innovate […]

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