Ancient DNA recovered from Greenland's permafrost contains fragments of genetic material from plants, corals, mastodons and other animals that provide details about the warm, lush landscape that once existed there, scientists reported this week.
Why it matters: DNA from plants and animals that lived long ago carries records of how organisms responded to climate change in the past and could help scientists understand how they might adapt to current global warming.
A study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances found that historical Indigenous "cultural burning" curtailed wildfire patterns on local scales over a period of roughly 400 years in the southwestern U.S.
Driving the news: As warming temperatures drive the risk of increased and intensified wildfires across the world,adaptingtraditional burning practices into fire management could diminish the role of climate in enkindling today’s wildfires.
