Polluting The Planet For Much Longer Than We Thought

A new study links an increase in soot in Antarctic ice cores to the burning practices of Maori in New Zealand more than 700 years ago. Several years ago, while analyzing ice core samples from James Ross Island in Antarctica, scientists Joe McConnell, Nathan Chellman, and Robert Mulvaney discovered something unexpected: a substantial increase in soot levels that began around the year 1300 and which continued to this day.