How Does the Sahara Desert Green Up Every 21,000 Years?

The fact that the Sahara Desert, which covers an area of ​​9.2 million square kilometers today, became green before we were born, or It is possible that one day it will turn green even if we cannot see it. It may sound quite illogical.

However, this greening Even if you have difficulty dreaming it, it is real!

We have known for a long time that there are water resources under the sands of the Sahara Desert.

However, with the studies carried out in 2010, scientists in this region, They discovered a prehistoric mega lake. This lake was formed approximately 250,000 years ago when the Nile River passed through a low channel near the Tushka Valley.

And this wasn’t the only evidence that the Sahara Desert was once a completely different place. Among the archaeological findings obtained from this desert, An area called Swimmers’ Cave There was.

This On the walls of the cave, swimming people were depicted And according to scientists, these drawings showed that there may once have been lakes in this region.

On the other hand, between 11,000 and 5,000 years ago, after the end of the last ice age, the Sahara Desert was transformed in a way.

Green vegetation on the sand dunes grew and increased rainfall He also turned existing pits into lakes. In other words, almost 9 million square kilometers of North Africa has become green.

Again, the transformation of the Sahara into green, It also occurred when the Earth’s tilt changed. 8,000 years ago, the slope began to move from an average of 24.1 degrees to today’s 23.5 degrees.

In addition, currently the northern hemisphere is closest to the sun in winter, but during the green period of the Sahara Desert, it was closest to the sun in summer.

This situation occurs in the northern hemisphere of the Earth during the summer months. caused the effects of the sun to increase. This increase strengthened the seasonal African monsoon, caused by temperature differences between land and ocean.

In other words, the increasing temperature in the Sahara created a low pressure system that carried moisture from the Atlantic Ocean to the desert. This increased humidity It was quite enough to green the Sahara Desert.

In summary, the Sahara Desert, even if we cannot see it one day for all these reasons, It will turn surprisingly green.

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