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Global warming led to dwarfism in mammals — twice

By Guest PostNovember 6, 2013Environment, Scienceabigail dambrosia, carbon dioxide, climate change, diacodexis, dwarfism in mammals, early horse hyracotherium, early horses, eocene thermal maximum, etm2, future global warming, geological past, global warming, greenhouse gases, heat trapping, human caused, hyperthermals, hyracotherium, jaw fossils, modern day horse, paleocene eocene, paleontologist, petm, philip gingerich, primate cantius, thermal maximum, university of michigan, will clyde

ANN ARBOR — Mammal body size decreased significantly during at least two ancient global warming events. A new finding that suggests a similar outcome is possible in response to human-caused climate change, according to a University of Michigan paleontologist and his colleagues.

Researchers have known for years that mammals such as primates and the groups that include horses and deer became much smaller during a period of warming, called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), about 55 million years ago. (more…)

Redwood trees reveal history of West Coast rain, fog, ocean conditions

By Guest PostNovember 3, 2013Environmentatmosphere, climate change, coastal redwoods, coastline, dendrochronology, earth, fog, foggy surrounding, historic fires, human caused, jim johnstone, john roden, molecules, natural variability cycles, northern california, ocean condition, oxygen, reconstructing historic climate, redwood trees, redwoods lifetime, southern oregon university, todd dawson, university of california, university of washington, west coast rain

Many people use tree ring records to see into the past. But redwoods – the iconic trees that are the world’s tallest living things – have so far proven too erratic in their growth patterns to help with reconstructing historic climate.

A University of Washington researcher has developed a way to use the trees as a window into coastal conditions, using oxygen and carbon atoms in the wood to detect fog and rainfall in previous seasons. (more…)

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Global warming led to dwarfism in mammals — twice

Redwood trees reveal history of West Coast rain, fog, ocean conditions