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NewZealand

How Much Did Ancient Land-Clearing Fires in New Zealand Affect the Climate?

A new study adds to the evidence that forest clearing and the spread of agriculture affected the Earth’s atmosphere and temperature earlier than previously believed.

By Bob Berwyn

A wildfire burns in the Port Hills in Victoria Park above Christchurch, New Zealand, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. New research studying carbon deposited in glacial ice in Antarctica indicates that land-clearing fires set by the Māori people of New Zealand before the Industrial Revolution may have had a larger impact on the climate than previously believed. Credit: Matias Delacroix/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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