Global Climate Change

Global Climate Change
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Global Climate Change
Question One
Some 50 million years ago, the earth suffered from consecutive phases of rapid global warming. Each phase was called a hyperthermal, and it would last a couple of thousand years. As Dunne (2019) explains, each hyperthermal would see the global temperatures rise by up to 5C. This gradual change in temperatures was the cause of wide-ranging changes to world habitats, and it also caused a series of extinction of various species. For example, the end of the ice age is one such era that marked the extinction of numerous species. At the end of this period, animals such as the Mammoth ceased to walk the earth, with only fossils remaining to prove they ever existed. Work by Dunne (2019) also reveals another example of a hyperthermal titled the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which took place some 56 million years ago. The PETM saw global temperatures rise more than 5C within 15-20 thousand years. As Bralower & Bice (n.d) explain, the rates above remain just slightly lower than the rates of global warming being experienced today. Similarly, the rise in temperatures then was also facilitated by the release of over 2000 gigatons (2,000,000,000,000 tons) of carbon gasses into the atmosphere. Yet, unlike global warming today, the PETM was entirely due to natural causes, unlike today whereby the actions of human civilizations are mostly to blame for higher temperatures. From the data currently collected, it is possible to paint a clear picture of each hyperthermal and modern global warming. Some of the benefits that can be traced back to reliance on hyperthermal when studying global warming include:
Discovery of New Knowledge
Data associated with PETM hyperthermal warming remains a key source of knowledge on global warming patterns. Thanks to the events recorded, it is possible to determine the patterns of warming that different ecological zones experienced over thousands of years. For instance, Dunne (2019) shares evidence that warming during the PETM hyperthermal was from various sources, including oxygen isotopes found in deep-sea cores. Work from various scientists shows that ocean surfaces temperatures rose by between 6 – 8 degrees Celsius across different latitudes (Bralower & Bice, n.d.). This range of temperature rises was also experienced in the deep sea, and they translated to about 4 – 5 degrees Celsius increases of the average earth temperature. In comparison, global temperatures since the industrial revolution have risen by an average of 1.2 degrees Celsius (Dunne, 2019).
Comparing the warming rates between the two eras remains helpful to scientists to determine global warming patterns. Additionally, evidence from the PETM hypothermal remains helpful in offering more evidence of the consequences of global warming. Fossil remains from the era, and global-wide extinction of species remains a key reminder of the devastating effects of global warming going unchecked. Equally, the PETM hyperthermal also offers specific knowledge about the cause of global warming at the time. According to Dunne (2019), hyperthermal were ...