Fires may have given our evolution a kick-start

• Autores: Colin Barras
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3147, 2017, pág. 7
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • A research led by researcher Brian Thomas at Washburn University in Kansas, on possible reason for the surge in wildfires as potential effect of the rise of savannahs is discussed. The team stated that high-energy cosmic rays from the supernova swept Earth and calculated that some of the rays were energetic enough to reach the lower atmosphere and ionise particles-a process some physicists have linked to lightning formation. The team used a vegetation model to assess the effect of a short-lived increase in lightning 8 million years ago and estimated it could have reduced tree cover in east Africa by about one-tenth, enough to give grasses a toehold.