UK scientists look for evidence of climate change in Ethiopia
A group of Welsh and Scottish scientists has travelled to Ethiopia to study climate change with the aid of a lake bed that dried up after the last ice age. The team will start by drilling into the lake bed, eventually removing part of the core of Lake Tana for study at Aberystwyth University in Wales. The core should help the scientists to build up a historical picture of climate change at the site. Lake Tana is particularly sensitive to changes in rainfall. Dr Sara Davies will drill 80 metres into the lake bed - a depth that she believes could take her back around 100,000 years. She expects analysis of the sediment to show how the lake has changed. Knowing when droughts occurred in the past could help experts to predict climate change. 'Working with our colleagues at St Andrews in Scotland and in Ethiopia, we will look at microscopic algae and pollen from the base of the lake that is the source of the Blue Nile. If the lake dried out, it could have big implications for the many societies along the Nile that rely on it for water,' said Dr Davies. A drought across sub-tropical Africa about 18,000 years ago probably led to the collapse of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt 4,200 years ago. Global warming could cause a similar 'climatic reorganisation', say climate change experts, if ice sheets in the northern hemisphere continue to melt at current rates. Lake Tana is the largest lake in Ethiopia. It is approximately 84 kilometres long and 66 kilometres wide, and is located in the country's north-west highlands. At its deepest, the lake's bed is 15 metres below the surface.
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