Story Created:
Dec 16, 2010 at 4:46 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Dec 16, 2010 at 4:46 PM EDT
A newly discovered mummified forest in the Canadian Arctic is giving researchers a glimpse into how plants reacted to ancient climate change.
A newly discovered mummified forest in the Canadian Arctic is giving researchers a glimpse into how plants reacted to ancient climate change.
That knowledge will be important as scientists begin to tease out the impacts of global warming in the Arctic.
A research scientist from Ohio State University discovered the ancient forest on Canada's Ellesmere Island by chance while camping in 2009. He went back this summer to explore the site estimated to be 2 million to 8 million years old.
A preliminary analysis reveals plants struggled to survive when the climate changed from being warmer than it is today to its current frigid state.
The findings are being presented Thursday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.
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