[WayneS]

If the Sahara once contained large bodies of water, couldn’t that be an indication that there was once more water (in liquid form) on the surface of the earth than there is now?

And wouldn’t THAT potentially be an indication that the polar ice caps were SMALLER at that time than they are now?

And wouldn’t THAT be an indication that the earth was WARMER then than it is now?

Could that be POSSIBLE?

[Vigilanteman]

Just a couple of random observations:

1. A mere 2400 years ago or so when Rome and Carthage were squaring off for dominance of the then-known world, much of North Africa was tropical or savanna. Hannibal's famous elephants weren't carted over the Sahara Desert, they were native to the Numadian Empire, roughly what is modern-day Algeria and Morocco.
   
2. All those Roman chariots and charging elephants evidently stirred up so much dust that the tropics turned arid and the savanna turned into the Sahara desert.
   
3. Other scientists believe the African continent once abutted South America, so man could just as easily have walked to modern Brazil as crossed the Sahara (which didn't exist in its present form) or floated down the Nile.