THE Chinese call the Yellow River their “joy and sorrow” because its
life-giving waters so easily turn to killer floods. But the floods were once
much worse, says Ge Yu of the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology. He
compared the sediments left by recent floods with those laid down over the past
9000 years. He found that the “cataclysmic” 1843 flood鈥攖he worst in 2400
years of recorded history鈥攚as exceeded four times between 6000 and 8000
years ago (Geomorphology, vol 33, p 73).
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
Our verdict on The Selfish Gene: An unpopular piece of popular science
2
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
3
The race to understand how and when Thwaites glacier will collapse
4
If you aren't terrified by this heatwave, you should be
5
We鈥檝e uncovered a master gene that switches on human development
6
How menopause radically changes the brain 鈥 and what happens after
7
Woman with Alzheimer's starts conversing again after taking psilocybin
8
Read an extract from Slow Gods by Claire North
9
The best sci-fi novel in 2026 so far 鈥 plus 6 other great reads
10
Europe鈥檚 heatwave is the hottest and most humid ever
