DoomsdaysCWFrom 2021: An Ancient Era of #GlobalWarming Could Hint at Our Scorching Future [Bonus -- We're adding #PFAS, #microplastics and #radiation to the mix! Oh boy...!]
Looking back at the strange and sweaty days of the #PETM.
by Riley Black, August 16, 2021
"THERE WAS A TIME when alligators slid through weed-choked swamps near the North Pole. Some 55 million years ago—just around 10 million years after the mass extinction that killed T. rex and most of its kin—the average global temperature sat more than 20°F higher than it does today. Subtropical forests spread to northern latitudes, and mammals thrived in lush new habitats.
"The toasty weather had nothing to do with the event that killed the dinos. The driver for the climatic shift came not from above, but from below—in Earth’s oceans. Paleontologists and geologists suspect that some amount of natural warming that took place during the Paleocene, or the period following the die-off, caused great deposits of crystallized methane to transform into gas. Seabeds belched the excess out into the water and the air, which was bad news for the planet: Methane is a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide. The globe rapidly warmed in response—jumping about 10°F in less than 20,000 years—and held steady for some 70,000 more before starting a long and slow recovery.
"Paleontologists call this hot spot the #PaleoceneEoceneThermalMaximum (PETM). It’s a time when subtropical forests spread over the continents and new animals got to stake their claims on the planet, all thanks to an atmosphere and oceans in turmoil. This part of the fossil record is a remnant of the past, but it may also be a preview of our future."
#HungryInsects #DeadZones #LossOfOceanOxygen #ToxicAlgae #RapidEvolution #StrangeNewRains #Extinction #NewLifeForms
