<
https://theconversation.com/melting-ice-will-strengthen-the-monsoon-in-northern-australia-but-cause-drier-conditions-north-of-the-equator-259992>
"Almost two-thirds of the world’s population is affected by the monsoon – the
annual arrival of intense rains in areas north and south of the Equator. These
drenching rains tend to arrive during each hemisphere’s summer.
The East Asian monsoon north of the equator is the best known and best studied,
because it affects the largest land area and the most people. But the southern
Indo-Australian monsoon is vitally important to northern Australia, Indonesia
and Papua New Guinea. To date, it has been studied much less.
To help fill this gap in knowledge, we analysed deep sediment from an unusual
lagoon near Darwin in northern Australia. We looked at ancient pollen and
chemical isotopes (different versions of the same chemical element) to look
about 150,000 years back in time and glimpse changes to the monsoon. When types
of pollen change, it tells us the monsoon has changed. Drier conditions favour
the emergence of grasslands, while wetter climates favour forests.
Our new research suggests as the world gets hotter, the Indo-Australian monsoon
will intensify and northern Australia will get wetter. This finding is
consistent with research suggesting the East Asian monsoon could weaken,
threatening agriculture and nature in heavily populated countries."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
