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Ancient Climate Change Triggered Warming That Lasted Thousands of Years (phys.org)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: A rapid rise in temperature on ancient Earth triggered a climate response that may have prolonged the warming for many thousands of years, according to scientists. Their study, published online in Nature Geoscience, provides new evidence of a climate feedback that could explain the long duration of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which is considered the best analogue for modern climate change. The findings also suggest that climate change today could have long-lasting impacts on global temperature even if humans are able to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Increased erosion during the PETM, approximately 56 million years ago, freed large amounts of fossil carbon stored in rocks and released enough carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere to impact temperatures long term, researchers said. Scientists found evidence for the massive carbon release in coastal sediment fossil cores. They analyzed the samples using an innovative molecular technique that enabled them to trace how processes like erosion moved carbon in deep time. Global temperatures increased by about 9 to 14.4 degrees Fahrenheit during the PETM, radically changing conditions on Earth. Severe storms and flooding became more common, and the warm, wet weather led to increased erosion of rocks. As erosion wore down mountains over thousands of years, carbon was released from rocks and transported by rivers to oceans, where some was reburied in coastal sediments. Along the way, some of the carbon entered the atmosphere as greenhouse gas.
Increased erosion during the PETM, approximately 56 million years ago, freed large amounts of fossil carbon stored in rocks and released enough carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere to impact temperatures long term, researchers said. Scientists found evidence for the massive carbon release in coastal sediment fossil cores. They analyzed the samples using an innovative molecular technique that enabled them to trace how processes like erosion moved carbon in deep time. Global temperatures increased by about 9 to 14.4 degrees Fahrenheit during the PETM, radically changing conditions on Earth. Severe storms and flooding became more common, and the warm, wet weather led to increased erosion of rocks. As erosion wore down mountains over thousands of years, carbon was released from rocks and transported by rivers to oceans, where some was reburied in coastal sediments. Along the way, some of the carbon entered the atmosphere as greenhouse gas.
Ocasio-Cortez just announced we have 12 years until the end of the world.
millennials and people, in gen z, and all these folks that come after us are looking up and we’re like, the world is gonna end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
..and now here come the jackasses who will say that since we APPARENTLY we have nothing to do with this, we can all go back to driving gigantic SUVs that get 10MPG and have no emissions controls whatsoever, burn coal, and so on, and so on, and so on. But still we have to ask:
WHAT IF YOU ARE WRONG?!
All you have to do, is fuck up ONCE and it's GAME OVER FOR THE EARTH.
Also: Why the ACTUAL FUCK should it EVER be okay to spew toxic shit into the air you have to breathe? To be WASTEFUL when you have the technology to NOT be wasteful? WHY BE THAT FUCKING STUPID!? So you can live like it's the 1940's forever? WHY!? WHY DO IT!?
Rhetorical questions. There is no reason *why* other than laziness and greed.
I live in a valley. EVERY GODS-BE-DAMNED DAY, even in the middle of winter, the air quality manages to get up at least into the 'Marginal' range, and do you know why? Internal Combustion Engines. ICEs need to GO AWAY FOR GOOD. We do not need them anymore for 100% of our ground transportation, why keep using hundred-plus-year-old technology in 2019?
Fucking humans, I swear..