| Other evidence shows a different situation. Widespread "downcutting" or lowering of riverbeds at this time has been discovered, and this would happen under dry conditions when there was less water. The "downcutting" created canyons, effectively moving the water even farther away from the forest, and contributing to the growth of savanna in the place of trees. | The effects of the last major ice age in tropical Africa are difficult to measure and because the continental shelf is so steep, there wasn't much additional land exposed from the lower sea levels. | Because of the cooler climate, more temperate forests were found in the tropics at relatively low elevations. During the ice age, tropical forest may have been confined to areas under 500 meters in elevation. Forests growing above this elevation would have been "semi-temperate". There is no present-day equivalent to these forests. |
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[tropical forests] [water] [climate]
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