The largest desert in the world was full of swimmers and boats. Will it ever come back?
1/6
From dunes to docks
The Sahara has flipped between desert and green worlds when northward monsoons strengthen and rains return.
2/6
The age of oars and hippos
About 9,000 to 6,000 years ago mega lakes and broad rivers cut across North Africa as people and wildlife thrived.
3/6
Graffiti from a wetter world
Rock art shows swimmers boats and wildlife while ancient beaches fish bones and mud cores map vanished waters.
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4/6
The switch that dried a sea of grass
Earth’s slow wobble weakened the monsoon rains faded lakes shrank plants died and dunes marched in.
5/6
Will water return to the sand
Orbital cycles can invite the monsoon north again over millennia while human warming may shift rain belts unpredictably.
6/6
Why this past warns our future
The Sahara proves climate lines can jump and planning for water crops and cities depends on knowing where they move next.