Last Time CO2 Levels Were This High, There Were Trees at the South Pole (theguardian.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: Trees growing near the South Pole, sea levels 20 metres higher than now, and global temperatures 3C-4C warmer. That is the world scientists are uncovering as they look back in time to when the planet last had as much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as it does today. Using sedimentary records and plant fossils, researchers have found that temperatures near the South Pole were about 20C higher than now in the Pliocene epoch, from 5.3m to 2.6m years ago. Many scientists use sophisticated computer models to predict the impacts of human-caused climate change, but looking back in time for real-world examples can give new insights. The Pliocene was a "proper analogy" and offered important lessons about the road ahead, said Martin Siegert, a geophysicist and climate-change scientist at Imperial College London. "The headline news is the temperatures are 3-4C higher and sea levels are 15-20 metres higher than they are today. The indication is that there is no Greenland ice sheet any more, no West Antarctic ice sheet and big chunks of East Antarctic [ice sheet] taken," he said.

Comments

Re:And why is this bad?

[lgw]

Nah, it goes the other way. Much more rain on a Warm Earth. Of course, last time is was ferns, not trees, but plant life was so vigorous that it supported herds of 40-ton herbivores.

We know a Warm Earth supports far more life than out current ice age Earth - it's the transition that's worrying. Humans like our territorial boundaries, and if all the arable land moves, even if there's vastly more at the end, there will be wars.

But the problem is humans, not the ecosystem.

 

Re:Conservatives only ones fixing climate change

[tsa]

Trumo trying to fix the climate? I laughed out loud reading that. And if you would have taken the time to actually look at what your link points to you would see that Trump is still the same second hand car salesman we all know and hate.