North Africa once was quite green,
From ancient lakes, clues we can glean:
Earth’s orbit has changed,
And rains rearranged …
Creating a vast, desert scene.
__________________________________________________________
Further reading:
End of the African Humid Period, News & Views by Peter deMenocal (2015) Nature Geoscience
This is one in a series of poems written by Katherine Allen, a researcher in geochemistry and paleoclimate at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University.
