420 results
420 results for: grassland
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- Earth
Shrinking ancient sea may have spawned Sahara Desert
The Saharan Desert probably formed 7 million years ago as the ancient Tethys Sea, the forerunner of the Mediterranean Sea, shrank.
- Animals
Apes do the darndest things
Several chimp behaviors have researchers wondering if apes are a good model for early hominid life.
- Microbes
Prairie microbes could aid region’s restoration
Surveying the bacteria living in the soils of grassland ecosystems may help revive the habitats.
- Agriculture
Some bioenergy crops are greener than others
In the Upper Midwest, switchgrass trumps maize at boosting ecological health.
- Climate
Wetter permafrost clings to carbon better
In 12-year lab study, moist soil samples released less greenhouse gas as they warmed.
- Animals
Elephant diets changed millions of years before their teeth
The animals fed on grasses long before their molars could grind the tough plants.
- Genetics
When flowers died out in Arctic, so did mammoths
Genetic analysis finds vegetation change in the Arctic around same time as megafauna extinction.
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- Humans
Eruption early in human prehistory may have been more whimper than bang
If Hollywood’s right, the apocalypse will be brutal. Aliens, nuclear war, zombies, plague, enslavement by supersmart robots — none of them are good endings. Some archaeologists, however, believe an apocalypse has already come and gone. About 75,000 years ago, they say, a monster volcanic eruption nearly wiped out humankind, leaving behind only a few thousand people to […]
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Humankind’s destructive streak may be older than the species itself
Some scientists have proposed designating a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, that would cover the period since humans became the predominant environmental force on the planet. But when would you have it begin? Some geologists argue that the Anthropocene began with the Industrial Revolution, when fossil fuel consumption started influencing climate. Others point back several […]
- Humans
Oceans set stage for human evolution
Temperature changes off the coast dried out East Africa and allowed grasslands to spread starting around 2 million years ago.
