The African Humid period mystery has been finally solved by the researchers. The 10,000 years old period of intense rainfall followed by long-dry spell was the result of the global warming, according to the research.
The study says, intense rainfall has occurred in two regions of Africa that took place right after the ice age. The increase in wet periods were the result of increased greenhouse gas concentration, the study conducted in Oregon State University reports.
Peter Clark, an Oregon State University paleoclimatologist and co-author on the study said, “This study is important not only because it explains a long-standing puzzle, but it helps to validate model predictions of how rising greenhouse gas concentrations might change rainfall patterns in a highly populated and vulnerable part of the world,”
Researchers used the computer simulations of past climate focusing entirely on the last era after the ice age. According to the generated sheets, Africa had a long dry-spell which lasted for around 147,000 years whereas America and Europe were retreating.
Previous studies – which are totally redundant now – claimed that these changes occurred because of changes in Earth’s orbit.
According to the current findings, when the Earth came out of the ice age, atmospheric carbon levels increased to almost pre-industrial levels. This caused the planet to warm as ice sheets melted and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.
The results moved the precipitation towards the southern Africa, suppressing the rainfall in northern and eastern regions. The changes combined with the warming climate were believed to triggered the period, called the African Humid Period.