A new study reports carbon emissions at highest levels since dinosaur age.
The climate is changing around us, and not for the better.
According to the NRDC:
Global warming is caused by carbon dioxide pollution and other air pollution that collects in the atmosphere, and traps the heat form the sun, causing the planet to heat up.
While temperatures do fluctuate naturally, the global temperature has increased at a record rate in the past 50 years.
According to the new study, carbon emission rates are at their highest rate in history from data gathered through fossil records that go back 66 millions years.
The researchers wrote that the rate of emissions is greater than even the biggest surge ever recorded 56 million years ago, which was caused by the release of frozen gases under the seabed.
The release that happened 56 million years ago increased temperatures by an estimated 9 degrees Fahrenheit, making oceans acidic and devastating marine life.
[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”#228B22″ class=”” size=”17″]“Given currently available records, the present anthropogenic carbon release rate is unprecedented during the past 66 million years,” the scientists wrote.[/pullquote]
Current emissions of carbon clock at about 10 billion tons a year, compared to the 1.1 billion tons across 4,000 years during the fastest warming event 56 million years ago.
That ancient warming event was known as the Paleoeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM).
“Our results suggest that future ocean acidification and possible effects on marine calcifying organisms will be more severe than during the PETM,” lead author Richard Zeebe from the University of Hawaii said.
“Future ecosystem disruptions are likely to exceed the relatively limited extinctions observed at the PETM,” he said. During the PETM, fish and other creatures may have had longer time to adapt to warming waters through evolution.
The United States is the single largest culprit of carbon pollution, emitting two billion tons into the air every year.
The study reporting carbon emissions at highest levels since dinosaur age was published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
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REFERENCES:
1. “Carbon Emissions Highest in 66 Million Years, since Dinosaur Age.” NewsDaily. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
2. “Anthropogenic Carbon Release Rate Unprecedented during the past 66 Million Years.” Nature Geoscience. Nature.com, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
