The Earth isn’t the only planet grappling with climate change: Newly published evidence suggests Mars is experiencing warming as it emerges from an ice age.
The red planet, which moved closer to the Earth on Monday than at any time since 2005, has seen a retreat from a glacial period that would have covered large areas in white before ending about 370,000 years ago, according to a study published Friday in the journal Science.
The research was conducted using an instrument on board the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that allowed an unprecedented examination of “the most recent Martian ice age recorded in the planet’s north polar ice cap,” according to a NASA press release.
NASA attributed the changes to variations in the planet’s tilt and orbit, which cause “substantial shifts in the planet’s climate, including ice ages. Earth has similar, but less variable, phases called Milankovitch cycles.”
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