Tag: geology

Drought once shut down Old Faithful—and might again

Old Faithful wasn’t always so faithful. The geyser, in Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park, is famous because it blasts hot water tens of meters into the air at regular intervals. Now, geologists examining petrified wood from the park have found evidence that 800 years ago, Old Faithful stopped erupting entirely for several decades. Image: Photomatt28

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AD 536: The year that winter never ended

In almost every region of the world, AD536 was marked with bad weather, social disorder – and death. This climatic downturn may well have profoundly altered the course of history. The trigger of this cooling has long been a mystery, but now we may finally be close to identifying the culprit – or culprits. Image: Yotam Rozin

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For instant climate change, just add one large comet

Two geologists claim they have evidence that carbon dioxide levels in Earth’s atmosphere more than doubled in a single year at the end of the Palaeocene. The increase helped trigger the most extreme change in surface temperatures since dinosaurs ruled the land. The speed of the change makes an extraterrestrial impact the likely cause, they say. Image: Space Art

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