When the Sahara Grew Green: Constraining the ‘Green Sahara’ Across Time and Space

Understanding the dynamics of Earth’s ancient climate is an important avenue of research. By examining past climate variability, we can improve our understanding of natural climate cycles and factors influencing current climate change. Dr Yassine Ait Brahim of the University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) in Morocco worked with colleagues to analyse isotopic data recovered from cave mineral deposits in Northwest Africa. This exciting research is focused on the precipitation history of the Sahara Desert, which, perhaps astonishingly, had periods of vegetation cover and mega-lakes.