Ice Age Forests
May 18th, 2018
A reporter holding wood collected from cypress forest discovered in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo credit: NPR
NPR recently wrote a article about a new documentary called “The Underwater Forest” about a recently discovered underwater forest in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Alabama. This is an exciting finding because tests show the forest dates back to the Ice Age about 50,000 years ago! The underwater forest can teach us about how climate change has affected forest ecosystems.
New Harmony is interested in how this discovery can show what the Gulf ecosystem was like in the Ice Age and how the wildlife living in this underwater forest today is very unique compared to the other species in the Gulf of Mexico. As scientists learn more about this underwater forest, we hope our students can study their findings and draw connections between past and present ecosystems.