The harsh Arabian desert formerly had a lush and fruitful chapter.

• Arabia, the largest biogeographical barrier on Earth, is believed to have been a lush green landscape that allowed animals and humans to migrate through it.

• Researchers have found that the region experienced intermittent phases of humidity in the last eight million years, turning a desiccated landscape into a well-watered grassland.

• The ‘Green Arabia’ hypothesis suggests that the now-arid land had occasional humid or rainy phases that transformed it into a wet and verdant terrain, sustaining diverse plant and animal life.

• The study, led by Michael Petraglia, director of the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, reveals that the Jubbah Oasis, a remnant of an ancient lake in Saudi Arabia, was a key site for the study.

• The study found buried archaeological sites on old lake beds, indicating early human ancestors and our species were crossing the area during times of high rainfall.

• The study also found that over the last eight million years, central Arabia had gone through cycles of wet and dry periods.

• The researchers propose that these wetter conditions played a pivotal role in helping mammals and early humans migrate between Africa and Eurasia and that the Arabian Peninsula served as a hub of continent-scale biogeographic exchange.

• The future of climate change is uncertain due to the highly technologized nature of human society today.

• For the last 15 years, another interdisciplinary team of researchers has been documenting ancient lakes and archaeological sites from 200,000 years ago to the present to track a changing climate and its effects on ecosystems.