[pctech]

And just how do they know this to be true? Was he there taking the temperature 247 million years ago? Oh, let me guess, in one of his past lives he was an ancient meteorologist. It could happen.

[Altair333]

"And just how do they know this to be true?"

Not sure about the temp data, but the mass extinction can clearly be seen in the fossil record. The best fossil beds from this era are in the Karoo area of South Africa. 90% of the life in the world doesn't disappear without some pretty extreme conditions. So we know something very extreme happened.

[Strategerist]

And just how do they know this to be true? Was he there taking the temperature 247 million years ago? Oh, let me guess, in one of his past lives he was an ancient meteorologist. It could happen.

It's something called "Science" and it involves spending upwards of 8-10 years in school, and then years of work in the field, by dozens and dozens of people.

You're not going to get a full explanation of how temperatures are estimated millions of years ago from a short AP wire service article. However, I doubt you'd read anything longer on the subject.

[edpc]

You find some tropical plant fossils in the Dakotas, carbon date them to millions of years ago, and conclude it used to be hot.

Brilliance........

[org.whodat]

Actually they guess-estmate the temperature by study of tree rings. Now go ahead and say there are no trees around.