Guwahati: In a landmark development, some eminent Indian scientists have discovered a link between Antarctica’s ice sheets around 34 million years ago and the evolution of the Indian monsoon system, courtesy of fossil leaves in Nagaland.
Researchers from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (Lucknow) and the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (Dehradun), took to climate reconstruction techniques to display the Laisong Formation in Nagaland experienced incessant rainfall and temperatures during that period.
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The age of the fossils coincided with the period when massive ice sheets began to form in Antarctica thus referring to a global link – which is the growth of Antarctic ice altered global wind and rainfall patterns.
The study which came out in the Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, hired Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Programme (CLAMP) to gauge the size, shape, and structure of the fossilised leaves.
As per the results, Nagaland’s climate then was wetter and warmer than current times in accordance with global climatic changes brought on by Antarctic glaciation.
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Experts however warn that this ancient story has crucial lessons for the present.
With modern climate changing, Antarctic ice melt accelerates and the ITCZ may shift once again, to disturb monsoon patterns across the tropics.
These can have effects on monsoon underpinning agriculture, water security, and the livelihoods of millions.
“What happens in one corner of the world — whether in the icy expanses of Antarctica or the humid forests of Nagaland — can reverberate across continents,” the research elaborated underscoring studying the unpredictability of past climate helps prepare for the challenges of a warming future.