In a study led by Tripti Bhattacharya, Thonis Family Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, researchers explored another time in Earth’s history with a strong North American summer monsoon. During the middle Pliocene epoch, an interval approximately three million years ago, despite carbon dioxide levels similar to today, the North American southwest was surprisingly full of lakes and plant and animal species needing a moister environment. The team’s new paper, published in the journal AGU Advances, suggests that a stronger monsoon in the middle Pliocene can explain past wetter conditions, with implications for the future. Read more.