World • Climate & Environment
Fossil Leaves Reveal How Ancient Forests Collapsed During Extreme Global Warming
Fossilized leaf cells from Wyoming have helped scientists reconstruct forest canopies during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, an abrupt warming event 56 million years ago. The *Science* study found that rising carbon dioxide and temperatures coincided with more open forests, major vegetation changes and increased landscape erosion—providing a warning, though not a precise forecast, for forests today.
Aug 14, 2026•3 views today
