News Climate

A lush, green Arabian Desert may have once linked Africa and Asia

Long-gone grasslands may have provided migration routes at times over the past 8 million years

The setting sun casts a rosy hue over a vast desert.

The Arabian Desert is today a vast and barren landscapes. But humid periods over the last 8 million years may have brought ephemeral rivers and grasslands to the region, a new study suggests.

Achim Thomae/Moment/Getty Images Plus

By Martin J. Kernan

The Arabian Desert, today the largest expanse of windswept sand dunes on Earth, experienced recurring periods of humidity millions of years ago, researchers report April 9 in Nature.