Evidence for a 90-million-year-old rainforest near the South Pole

Researchers have found unexpected fossil traces of a temperate rainforest near the South Pole 90 million years ago, suggesting the continent had an exceptionally warm climate in prehistoric times. A team from the UK and Germany, which includes experts from Northumbria University’s Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, discovered a forest soil from the Cretaceous period …

Sea ice-free Arctic makes permafrost vulnerable to thawing

New research published in the journal Nature provides evidence from Siberian caves on the essential role that summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean plays in stabilising permafrost and its large store of carbon. Permafrost is ground that remains frozen throughout the year and covers nearly a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere’s land. The frozen …