Trivia Junction

A Compendium of trivia I find interesting
...for the curious

Winds of change

By analyzing wood samples 14,000 to 30,000 years old, Dartmouth researchers have concluded that the prevailing winds in the mid-latitudes of North America have changed direction.

What now blows from the west once blew from the east.

The shift from east to west, says geologist Xiahong Feng, is a likely manifestation of previous global climate change. Thirty thousand years ago, the prevailing easterlies were the result of meteorological patterns greatly influenced by the Laurentide Ice Sheet, an enormous mass of ice that covered much of northern North America.

As the ice sheet receded, the winds changed direction to reflect new global influences.

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