Fossils Reveal an Ancient Climate Catastrophe, And We Need to Pay Attention

Scott Wing had spent more than a decade in the badlands of Wyoming's Bighorn Basin, most of it thirsty, sunburned, and down on his hands and knees, digging endlessly through the dirt.

We need to pay attention.

But he had never found anything like the fossil he now held in his hand - an exquisitely preserved leaf embossed on beige rock. Wing let out a jubilant laugh as he uncovered a second fossil and then a third. Each leaf was different from the others. Each was entirely new to him.

And then he started to cry.

This was exactly what he'd been searching for. When these strange fossils formed 56 million years ago, the planet was warming faster and more dramatically than at any point in its history - except the present.

Read the Science Alert story by Sarah Kaplan from The Washington Post - “Fossils Reveal an Ancient Climate Catastrophe, And We Need to Pay Attention.”