{"id":44503,"date":"2025-01-22t20:45:43","date_gmt":"2025-01-22t20:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?p=44503"},"modified":"2025-01-23t14:13:43","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23t14:13:43","slug":"madagascar-caves-monsoons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/madagascar-caves-monsoons\/","title":{"rendered":"what can madagascar\u2019s caves reveal about intensifying monsoons in the indian ocean?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by christiana freitag<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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most well-known for its unique endemic species like the panther chameleon, the ring-tailed lemur and the cat-like fossa, the island of madagascar also contains caves which serve as time capsules of the climate history of the western indian ocean. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

now, paleoclimatologists are investigating what madagascar can tell us about the past and future of monsoons as climate change accelerates. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cthe question was to understand the mechanism connecting the atlantic and indian oceans in the past and whether that has any role in future climate change,\u201d said ben tiger, massachusetts institute of technology, woods hole oceanographic institution joint program ph.d. candidate.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

tiger had been entranced by madagascar\u2019s unique biome ever since his first visit during a washington university sustainable development trip there. it was serendipitous when he started his ph.d. at mit-whoi and joined a research team focused on madagascar\u2019s cave systems to investigate ocean systems in the indian ocean. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

the mit-whoi research first focused on madagascar to understand the human impacts on species unique to madagascar when humans arrived around 1,000 to 1,500 years ago, according to tiger. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cthere were huge shifts in the ecosystem during that time: the extinction of certain charismatic megafauna like giant lemurs and hippos that don\u2019t exist on the island anymore,\u201d tiger said. \u201cso the question was, is this a climate story or a human, environmental-change story? and with stalagmites, you can answer that question.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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