#petm — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #petm, aggregated by home.social.
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CO₂ is plant food: director's cut
"The ancient change in forests has parallels with what scientists see today. Dunn points to satellite data — measuring the same leaf area index her team reconstructed from the ancient fossils — that shows a general browning trend across the planet since around 2000. Notably, this came after a trend of greening in the twentieth century, similar to the initial increase in forest cover that Dunn and her colleagues identified in the Wyoming fossils."
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Section 8: Hyperthermals and Ocean AcidificationThe Paleocene-Eocene Thermal
Maximum (PETM) 56 million years ago serves as a stark analog for our current carbon pulse. Triggered by flood basalts baking organic basins as Europe tore from Greenland, it released trillions of tons of carbon. This crossed a threshold that dissolved seafloor methane clathrates, spiking temperatures by 5 to 8 degrees Celsius and turning oceans into toxic acid baths that dissolved calcifying organisms. -
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The most unsettling part of looking into the PETM mirror is the scale of velocity. While the PETM was an extraordinarily rapid geological event, human activity is currently pumping carbon into the atmosphere up to 30 times faster than nature did 56 million years ago. Consequently, global temperatures are rising 10 times more quickly. We are running a high-speed version of a catastrophic ancient experiment. -
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Our history provides a terrifyingly accurate mirror for this exact scenario: the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) 56 million years ago. During this ancient spike, a massive injection of carbon triggered rapid global warming, severe ocean acidification, and altered ocean circulation. The PETM shows us exactly what happens to the planet's equilibrium when climate systems are pushed past their tipping points. -
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The PETM as a Warning for TodayWhile the PETM provides a sobering look at our potential future, there is one terrifying difference: the speed of change. Although the onset of the PETM was "extraordinarily rapid" in geological terms, humans are currently pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere up to 30 times faster than nature did 56 million years ago. Consequently, global temperatures are now rising at least 10 times more quickly than they did during the PETM.
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• Ocean Anoxia: Parts of the ocean became "dead zones" depleted of oxygen, which was fatal to much marine life.• Extreme Weather: The planet experienced intense rainfall, colossal flash flooding, and severe droughts.
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This initial warming likely triggered positive feedback loops, such as the release of methane from thawing permafrost or submarine "fire ice" (gas hydrates), which further accelerated the heating.The consequences for the environment were dire:
• Ocean Acidification: The oceans absorbed a massive amount of carbon, making them highly acidic and dissolving the calcium carbonate skeletons of many marine species.
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• Mammalian Response: In contrast to reptiles, mammals evolved to become smaller during this period to lose body heat more efficiently.Causes and Kill Mechanisms
The heat spike was driven by the dumping of an estimated 3,000 to 8,000 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere.
The primary trigger is believed to have been massive volcanic activity associated with the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean, where magma forced its way into carbon-rich sediments.
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• Tropical Heat: Sea-surface temperatures in the tropics exceeded 35°C, and perhaps even 40°C, while average land temperatures in the tropics topped 40°C.• Giant Reptiles: Because they are cold-blooded and thrive in heat, reptiles grew to enormous sizes; the most famous was #Titanoboa, a 15-metre-long snake weighing over a tonne that roamed a humid, tropical world.
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A Sweltering Hothouse WorldDuring the PETM, the Earth was transformed into a "world of hell" as global average temperatures shot up by 5°C to 8°C over a period of about 3,000 years. The world was vastly different from today:
• Life at the Poles: The polar regions were ice-free and so warm that palm trees thrived in Siberia and alligators swam in the Arctic Ocean.
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The pre-historic mirror of the PETM
The Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which occurred approximately 56 million years ago, serves as a "prehistoric mirror" for our future because it represents one of the most rapid and intense natural heating events in Earth's history. By studying this period, paleoclimatologists can observe how the planet’s systems—including the oceans, atmosphere, and biosphere—respond to a massive, sudden injection of carbon.
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Really nicely illustrated and explained by #Acronium:
“Something was here before us… and scientist are terrified”
#ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #FossilFuel #PETM
https://youtu.be/CAEdwHRUP4k?is=tqid9NHUCbIktsCS -
What we should learn from history regarding #ClimateChange
“The PETM involved more than 5°C of warming in 15-20 thousand years (actually a little slower than rates of warming over the last 50 years), fueled by the input of more than 2000 gigatons (a gigaton is a billion tons!) of carbon into the atmosphere.”
Ancient #Climate Events: Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum
#PETM #extinction #FossilFuel
https://courses.ems.psu.edu/earth103/node/639 -
From 2021: An Ancient Era of #GlobalWarming Could Hint at Our Scorching Future [Bonus -- We're adding #PFAS, #microplastics and #radiation to the mix! Oh boy...!]
Looking back at the strange and sweaty days of the #PETM.
by Riley Black, August 16, 2021
"THERE WAS A TIME when alligators slid through weed-choked swamps near the North Pole. Some 55 million years ago—just around 10 million years after the mass extinction that killed T. rex and most of its kin—the average global temperature sat more than 20°F higher than it does today. Subtropical forests spread to northern latitudes, and mammals thrived in lush new habitats.
"The toasty weather had nothing to do with the event that killed the dinos. The driver for the climatic shift came not from above, but from below—in Earth’s oceans. Paleontologists and geologists suspect that some amount of natural warming that took place during the Paleocene, or the period following the die-off, caused great deposits of crystallized methane to transform into gas. Seabeds belched the excess out into the water and the air, which was bad news for the planet: Methane is a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide. The globe rapidly warmed in response—jumping about 10°F in less than 20,000 years—and held steady for some 70,000 more before starting a long and slow recovery.
"Paleontologists call this hot spot the #PaleoceneEoceneThermalMaximum (PETM). It’s a time when subtropical forests spread over the continents and new animals got to stake their claims on the planet, all thanks to an atmosphere and oceans in turmoil. This part of the fossil record is a remnant of the past, but it may also be a preview of our future."
#HungryInsects #DeadZones #LossOfOceanOxygen #ToxicAlgae #RapidEvolution #StrangeNewRains #Extinction #NewLifeForms
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“"De klimaatverandering in het PETM ging ongeveer tien keer zo langzaam als wat wij nu doen", zegt Sluijs. In de afgelopen eeuw is de aarde ruim 1 graad opgewarmd, en we stevenen af op bijna 3 graden in 2100.”
Aarde: “Seen that done that.”
Mensheid: “We are done.”#OpwarmingVanDeAarde
#Overstromingen
#PETMOverstromingen Spanje waren echo van klimaatverandering in prehistorie https://www.nu.nl/klimaat/6339767/overstromingen-spanje-waren-echo-van-klimaatverandering-in-prehistorie.html
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Congratulations to Dr. Pascale Daoust, who successfully defended, "Ocean Acidification: Insights from the Behaviour of Ancient and Modern Carbonates", supervised by Al Mucci and Galen Halverson.
The work involved field and laboratory studies of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum section near Campo, Spain.
The figure shows the depositional environments at the time; from Daoust et al, submitted, modified from Pujalte et al. (2014)
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Read this article about #methane #hydrates observed off the coast of Africa moving 40km from deep-cold waters to the continental shelf:
https://scitechdaily.com/fire-ice-time-bomb-discovered-climate-changes-deep-ocean-threat/Relevant because one of the leading theories for what caused the #PETM (jump in #CO2 and #temperatures at 55 Ma) is the #clathrate gun-- frozen methane in the abyssal ocean thawing & causing sudden warming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clathrate_gun_hypothesis
But it hinges on methane being shallow enough to being vulnerable to melt.Not time to panic, but wow.
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Der Klimaschock vor 56 Millionen Jahren ähnelt auffallend der Gegenwart: ein dramatischer Temperaturanstieg binnen kürzester Zeit. Lange rätselten Fachleute über die Ursache.#Klima #Hitze #Methan #Paläozän #Eozän #Thermales #Maximum #PETM #Klimawandel #Vulkanismus #Sediment #Methanhydrat #Modgunn #Gasaustritt #Vent #Krater #Nordatlantik #ErdeUmwelt
Methan löste einst globalen Hitzeschock aus -
#NewPaper #Paleoclimatology #PETM
Jones, M. T., Stokke, E. W., Rooney, A. D., Frieling, J., Pogge von Strandmann, P. A. E., Wilson, D. J., Svensen, H. H., Planke, S., Adatte, T., Thibault, N., Vickers, M. L., Mather, T. A., Tegner, C., Zuchuat, V., and Schultz, B. P.: Tracing North Atlantic volcanism and seaway connectivity across the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), Clim. Past, 19, 1623–1652, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1623-2023, 2023.
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North Atlantic #volcanic activity was a major driver of #climate change 56 million years ago https://phys.org/news/2023-08-north-atlantic-volcanic-major-driver.html
Tracing North #Atlantic #volcanism and seaway connectivity across the #PaleoceneEoceneThermalMaximum (#PETM) https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/19/1623/2023/
"The #Paleocene–#Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is a period of #GlobalWarming that occurred ~56 million years ago, lasting approximately 200,000 years, when the #Earth experienced global surface #temperature elevations of ~5°C."
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Ursache für urzeitliches Wärme-Maximum gefunden. Methanspeiende Schlote im Atlantik könnten Erwärmung vor 55 Millionen Jahren ausgelöst haben. #PETM #Klimageschichte #Temperaturmaximum #Palaeoklima #Methan #Vulkane
https://www.scinexx.de/news/geowissen/ursache-fuer-urzeitliches-waerme-maximum-gefunden/ -
Unterwasservulkane helfen, prähistorische Klimaerwärmung #PETM zu erklären - Neue Studie zeigt: Vulkanismus vor 56 Millionen Jahren setzte mehr Methan frei als angenommen: #Pressemitteilung: https://www.geomar.de/news/article/unterwasservulkane-helfen-praehistorische-klimaerwaermung-zu-erklaeren Original-Publikation: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01246-8 #IODP
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The Surprising Connection Between Earth's Orbital Patterns and an Ancient Warming Event
#EarthOrbitalPattern
#PETM
#PaleoceneEoceneThermalMaximum
#AncientGlobalWarmingAn international team of scientists has suggested that changes in Earth's orbit that resulted in hotter conditions may have played a role in triggering a rapid global warming event that occurred 56 million years ago. This event, known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), is considered to
