Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, uses cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. For more information on how we use cookies on our websites, visit our Cookie Policy.
Feature Earth

What the Pliocene epoch can teach us about future warming on Earth

About 3 million years ago, carbon dioxide levels were similar to today’s. What other changes might we expect?

illustration of life in the Pliocene

BLAST FROM THE PAST  Three million years ago, Earth’s climate was so warm that the High Arctic supported forests (illustrated) in which camels and other animals roamed.

Julius T. Csotonyi

By Alexandra Witze

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Earth

  1. coral reef environment
    Life

    Climate change may be throwing coral sex out of sync

    By Susan Milius
  2. white-crowned sparrow
    Agriculture

    Birds fed a common pesticide lost weight rapidly and had migration delays

    By Maanvi Singh
  3. stalactites
    Earth

    Ancient crystal growths in caves reveal seas rose 16 meters in a warmer world

    By Lucas Laursen
  4. Hawaii's Big Island
    Earth

    How Kilauea’s lava fed a massive phytoplankton bloom

    By Carolyn Gramling
  5. Hurricane Dorian radar image
    Earth

    Hurricane Dorian’s slow pace makes it dangerous and hard to predict

    By Carolyn Gramling
  6. Earth illustration
    Earth

    How ancient oceans of magma may have boosted Earth’s oxygen levels

    By Maria Temming
  7. diatom
    Earth

    Ocean acidification could weaken diatoms’ glass houses

    By Carolyn Gramling
  8. coral
    Life

    How a newly identified bacterium saps corals of their energy

    By Kathleen O'Neil

From the Nature Index

Paid Content