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Thanks to global warming, an ancient forest has been discovered in the Rocky Mountains, providing unique information about climate change over the past 10 years.
Researchers from Montana State University have found well-preserved remains of a whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), which died out 5000 years ago due to climate anomalies, on the Beartooth Plateau in the northeastern part of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. As the authors of the study, published in PNAS, the trees were preserved in excellent condition by a sudden build-up of ice caused by volcanic eruptions. This allows us to reconstruct a detailed picture of the climatic conditions of the period, when temperatures were similar to today, and then cooling led to a significant increase in ice cover.
At 10 feet, these trees once thrived thanks to warming that allowed them to grow higher than usual. But a resurgence in cooling has killed them off. The discovery, made as glaciers melt, provides new evidence of past ecosystems, including climate archives that “are rare and missing from many other proxy data,” the study authors said.
Interestingly, the researchers also found artifacts, such as a wooden shaft that could have been part of a hunting spear. This indicates the presence of humans in this region and their adaptation to climate change. As reported Live Science, such discoveries provide valuable information about the interaction of human societies with the natural environment over millennia.
Scientists warn that current warming could exceed mid-Holocene levels (5000-7000 years ago), leading to the disappearance of ice sheets and changes in high-altitude landscapes. "Investigating long-term ecosystem responses to past climate conditions facilitates our ability to assess current and future tree-line dynamics," the authors conclude. However, they note that alpine forests remain extremely vulnerable to climate change, which threatens their future.
This study is another example of how past climate conditions can serve as a source of knowledge for understanding and predicting current changes.
