Editing Holocene (section)

=== Africa ===
North Africa, dominated by the [[Sahara Desert]] in the present, was instead a savanna dotted with large lakes during the Early and Middle Holocene,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Armitage |first1=Simon J. |last2=Bristow |first2=Charlie S. |last3=Drake |first3=Nick A. |date=14 July 2015 |title=West African monsoon dynamics inferred from abrupt fluctuations of Lake Mega-Chad |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |language=en |volume=112 |issue=28 |pages=8543–8548 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1417655112 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=4507243 |pmid=26124133 |bibcode=2015PNAS..112.8543A |doi-access=free }}</ref> regionally known as the [[African humid period|African Humid Period]] (AHP).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Depreux |first1=Bruno |last2=Lefèvre |first2=David |last3=Berger |first3=Jean-François |last4=Segaoui |first4=Fatima |last5=Boudad |first5=Larbi |last6=El Harradji |first6=Abderrahmane |last7=Degeai |first7=Jean-Philippe |last8=Limondin-Lozouet |first8=Nicole |date=1 March 2021 |title=Alluvial records of the African Humid Period from the NW African highlands (Moulouya basin, NE Morocco) |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |volume=255 |pages=106807 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106807 |bibcode=2021QSRv..25506807D |s2cid=233792780 |issn=0277-3791 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The northward migration of the [[Intertropical Convergence Zone]] (ITCZ) produced increased monsoon rainfall over North Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sha |first1=Lijuan |last2=Ait Brahim |first2=Yassine |last3=Wassenburg |first3=Jasper A. |last4=Yin |first4=Jianjun |last5=Peros |first5=Matthew |last6=Cruz |first6=Francisco W. |last7=Cai |first7=Yanjun |last8=Li |first8=Hanying |last9=Du |first9=Wenjing |last10=Zhang |first10=Haiwei |last11=Edwards |first11=R. Lawrence |last12=Cheng |first12=Hai |date=16 December 2019 |title=How Far North Did the African Monsoon Fringe Expand During the African Humid Period? Insights From Southwest Moroccan Speleothems |journal=[[Geophysical Research Letters]] |language=en |volume=46 |issue=23 |pages=14093–14102 |doi=10.1029/2019GL084879 |bibcode=2019GeoRL..4614093S |s2cid=213015081 |issn=0094-8276 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The lush vegetation of the Sahara brought an increase in [[pastoralism]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Manning |first1=Katie |last2=Timpson |first2=Adrian |date=October 2014 |title=The demographic response to Holocene climate change in the Sahara |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |language=en |volume=101 |pages=28–35 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.07.003 |bibcode=2014QSRv..101...28M |s2cid=54923700 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The AHP ended around 5,500 BP, after which the Sahara began to dry and become the desert it is today.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Adkins |first1=Jess |last2=deMenocal |first2=Peter |last3=Eshel |first3=Gidon |date=20 October 2006 |title=The "African humid period" and the record of marine upwelling from excess 230 Th in Ocean Drilling Program Hole 658C: Th NORMALIZED FLUXES OFF NORTH AFRICA |journal=[[Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology]] |language=en |volume=21 |issue=4 |doi=10.1029/2005PA001200|doi-access=free |bibcode=2006PalOc..21.4203A }}</ref>

A stronger East African Monsoon during the Middle Holocene increased precipitation in East Africa and raised lake levels.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Forman |first1=Steven L. |last2=Wright |first2=David K. |last3=Bloszies |first3=Christopher |date=1 August 2014 |title=Variations in water level for Lake Turkana in the past 8500 years near Mt. Porr, Kenya and the transition from the African Humid Period to Holocene aridity |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379114001747 |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |volume=97 |pages=84–101 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.05.005 |bibcode=2014QSRv...97...84F |issn=0277-3791 |access-date=22 September 2023}}</ref> Around 800 AD, or 1,150 BP, a marine transgression occurred in southeastern Africa; in the Lake Lungué basin, this sea level highstand occurred from 740 to 910 AD, or from 1,210 to 1,040 BP, as evidenced by the lake's connection to the Indian Ocean at this time. This transgression was followed by a period of transition that lasted until 590 BP, when the region experienced significant aridification and began to be extensively used by humans for livestock herding.<ref name="LateHoloceneLakeLungué">{{Cite journal |last1=Sitoe |first1=Sandra Raúl |last2=Risberg |first2=Jan |last3=Norström |first3=Elin |last4=Westerberg |first4=Lars-Ove |date=1 November 2017 |title=Late Holocene sea-level changes and paleoclimate recorded in Lake Lungué, southern Mozambique |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018217302092 |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=485 |pages=305–315 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.06.022 |bibcode=2017PPP...485..305S |issn=0031-0182 |access-date=22 November 2023}}</ref>

In the [[Kalahari Desert]], Holocene climate was overall very stable and environmental change was of low amplitude. Relatively cool conditions have prevailed since 4,000 BP.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lancaster |first=N. |date=1 May 1989 |title=Late Quaternary paleoenvironments in the southwestern Kalahari |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182%2889%2990114-4 |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=70 |issue=4 |pages=367–376 |doi=10.1016/0031-0182(89)90114-4 |bibcode=1989PPP....70..367L |issn=0031-0182 |access-date=15 September 2023}}</ref>