Posted on 07/13/2009 3:15:25 PM PDT by pissant
A runaway spurt of global warming 55 million years ago turned Earth into a hothouse but how this happened remains worryingly unclear, scientists said on Monday.
Previous research into this period, called the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM, estimates the planet's surface temperature blasted upwards by between five and nine degrees Celsius (nine and 16.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in just a few thousand years. The Arctic Ocean warmed to 23 C (73 F), or about the temperature of a lukewarm bath.
How PETM happened is unclear but climatologists are eager to find out, as this could shed light on aspects of global warming today.
What seems clear is that a huge amount of heat-trapping "greenhouse" gases -- natural, as opposed to man-made -- were disgorged in a very short time.
The theorised sources include volcanic activity and the sudden release of methane hydrates in the ocean.
A trio of Earth scientists, led by Richard Zeebe of the University of Hawaii, try to account for the carbon that was spewed out during PETM.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
liberal politicians
What happened to the theory that perturbations in Earth’s orbit drive long term climate change?
I’m pretty sure it was Bush’s fault and Cheney hid it from Congress.
This was covered in Star Trek: Voyager Distant Origin (See: http://thecia.com.au/star-trek/voyager/312a.shtml )
I thought KKKarl Rove kept the keys to the white House weather machine.....
no that’s Blackwater or Halliburton.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, get grants to study natural global warming.
I’m just wondering...
does anyone know how to find out how much
the 93 million miles distance to the sun
would have to change to effect
a +-1 degree temperature change on earth?
Had to be either volcanic or the sun went apesh*t for a while.
parsy, the know-nothing scientist
You need to stop picking on GrandPa Munster
See what happens when you don't sell carbon credits!
Why does everyone assume the sun has always burned the same?
IIRC the Sun has grown an astonishing 25% hotter in the last five billion years. (Saw this on a Geology program, so no source.)
Thanks!
The leader of the cavemen at that time was named after a small, tree-like plant called a “bush”. It was all his fault.
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