Azolla Event

Around 49 million years ago, Arctic sediments recorded abundant Azolla, a floating freshwater fern, over an interval of about 800,000 years. Some may have grown on fresh surface waters, while other remains washed in from land. Its carbon burial may have aided cooling, but its geographic extent and global climate effect remain uncertain.

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CO₂280ppm
Temp14.3°C
Sea0m
O₂21%

Annual surface temperature from CESM (T): a model estimate, not a direct observation of the past.

0 Ma: pre-industrial climate/CO₂; modern sea-level and O₂ references.

Data references
Sources & methods

Glacial-interglacial cycles with 120m+ sea level swings. Homo sapiens spread from Africa across the globe, and most megafauna went extinct.

Key Life
🧑Homo sapiens🦣Mammoth🧔Neanderthals
Innovations
  • ›Language and culture
  • ›Agricultural revolution (~10,000 years ago)
  • ›Birth of civilization
Simplified Köppen
Af Rainforest
Am Monsoon
Aw Savanna
BW Desert
BS Steppe
Cf Temperate wet
Cs/Cw Temperate dry
Df Cold wet
Dw Cold dry
ET Tundra
EF Ice
CESM (Li et al. 2022)

Annual model means · 0 Ma: pre-industrial

Full exploration range1,800 Ma → Present
540 Ma → Present
Precambrian
Paleozoic
Mesozoic
Cenozoic
Cambrian
Ordovician
Devonian
Carbonif.
Permian
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
┆ Data transition · 540 Ma

Present