A new research has found that the earth is no longer away from hitting its last major greenhouse warming event. Rising level of total carbon dioxide emissions is accelerating our planet towards meeting such ultimatum within 140 years. The study explains humans’ activities in pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, resulting in such disaster. Researchers has found that the total emission level is 10 times higher than the emission during major greenhouse warming event. Moreover they are predicting the endmost event within less than five generation, if carbon emissions continue rising at a same.
Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), the global warming event about 56 million years ago has become a benchmark for the scientists. However they often use this incident to compare modern climate change. After comparing the climate change, the scientists have come to the conclusion of meeting benchmark is no more away.
PETM Was Warmest Period since Dinosaurs Extinction, 66 Million Years Ago
Utah University’s geophysicist, Gabriel Bowen said that the rates of today’s carbon release is merely unprecedented compared to PETM. He has also asserted that scientists do not have adequate geologic examples to deal with such perturbation. A paleontologist, Larisa DeSantis further predicted the extinction of many species due to the raised temperatures. She has also added of taking thousands of years for earth to cool down the climate system after such disaster.
Furthermore, scientists have found that the massive release of CO2 during PETM caused rapid spiking of global temperatures. The average global temperature peaked at nearly 23 degree Celsius, which is 7 degree higher than today’s average temperature. Such massive temperature spike altered earth’s climate drastically, causing major extinction of a large amount of organisms. However scientists are trying to predict the rapid biological changes in the coming years, comparing the incidences after PETM.