Sand-sized fossils hold secrets to the history of climate change
- Written by Yuhao Dai, Research Fellow in Earth Sciences, Australian National University
N-2-s/ShutterstockBetween 18,000 and 11,000 years ago, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere suddenly shot up. This caused rapid global warming, the mass melting of glaciers, and the end of the last ice age.
Much of this sudden influx of atmospheric CO₂ came from the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, highlighting the key role this...





