news
Summary
A recent study co-led by the Smithsonian and the University of Arizona has charted Earth’s global temperature changes over the past 485 million years, revealing that temperature fluctuations are closely linked to carbon dioxide levels. The research utilized data assimilation techniques to create a more accurate temperature curve, providing crucial context for understanding modern climate change.
Highlights -🌍
- Extensive Temperature Changes: Earth’s temperature has varied significantly over 485 million years.
- CO₂ Correlation: Fluctuations in temperature are strongly linked to atmospheric CO₂ levels.
- Data Assimilation: Researchers used advanced data assimilation methods to reconstruct ancient climates.
- Context for Climate Change: This study offers insights into future climate scenarios.
- Mass Extinctions Link: Rapid climate changes in the past have been associated with mass extinctions.
- Museum Exhibit: The findings contribute to the Smithsonian’s Hall of Fossils, enhancing public understanding of climate history.
- Continued Research: The study is not the final word; ongoing research will refine temperature models.
A new study co-led by the Smithsonian and the University of Arizona offers the most detailed glimpse yet of how Earth’s surface temperature has changed over the past 485 million years.
In a paper published Sept. 19, in the journal Science, a team of researchers, including paleobiologists Scott Wing and Brian Huber from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, produce a curve of global mean surface temperature (GMST) across deep time—the Earth’s ancient past stretching over many millions of years.
[…]
The findings also reveal that the Earth’s current GMST of 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius) is cooler than Earth has been over much of the Phanerozoic. But greenhouse gas emissions caused by anthropogenic climate change are currently warming the planet at a much faster rate than even the fastest warming events of the Phanerozoic.
The speed of warming puts species and ecosystems around the world at risk and is causing a rapid rise in sea level. Some other episodes of rapid climate change during the Phanerozoic have sparked mass extinctions.
“Humans, and the species we share the planet with, are adapted to a cold climate,” Tierney said. “Rapidly putting us all into a warmer climate is a dangerous thing to do.”
Read the paper directly:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk3705
Also, Bill McKibben on the study:
