‘The stage was now set for the birth and growth of desert dunes’: How the Sahara turned from a vast forest to the arid landscape we see today

The Sahara Desert, which covers over 3.5 million square miles, was once a green oasis.  (Image credit: LucynaKoch/Getty Images)

Millions of years ago, the Sahara was a green oasis covered in trees and grassland. So how did it become world’s biggest hot desert, roughly the size of the entire U.S.? 

In his book “When the Sahara Was Green,” (Princeton University Press, 2021) Martin Williams explores the little-known history of this iconic landscape. In the extract from the book below, the author looks at how a vanishing ocean and global cooling set the stage for the birth of the Sahara desert. 


Source link: https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/climate-change/how-the-sahara-desert-turned-from-a-vast-forest-to-the-arid-landscape-we-see-today by at www.livescience.com