Africa dramatically dried out 5,500 years ago – our new study may warn us of future climate tipping points

By Martin H. Trauth, Professor, University of Potsdam
Asfawossen Asrat, Professor, Addis Ababa University
Mark Maslin, Professor of Natural Sciences, UCL

Around five and half millenia ago, northern Africa went through a dramatic transformation. The Sahara desert expanded and grasslands, forests and lakes favoured by humans disappeared. Humans were forced to retreat to the mountains, the oases, and the Nile valley and delta.

As a relatively large and dispersed population was squeezed into smaller and more fertile areas, it needed to innovate new ways to produce food and organise society. Soon after, one of the world’s first great civilisations emerged – ancient…

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