Global Warming 55 million years ago?

www.breitbart.com...

55 million years ago. Those cave men must have built alot more fires than we know, since of course man is responsible for global warming. However, i am sure we can find a link to Bush or the Masons existing 55 million years ago. We gotta blame someone, right?

Well, I'm pretty sure we (that being any of our ancestral species) did'nt exist back than, so yeah, that time was'nt our fault.

Can't read the link, I'm in a bit of a hurry, but the two most plausable explanations for it are, an asteroid impact or a super/mega volcano eruption.

Ok here is how it goes. Earth is a b*tch, every 100,000 years an ice age happens. Those last a long time, then it goes away (for 100,000 years). Well according to just about every scientist, our 100,000 are basically up. But we haven't started with a new ice age (thanks to global warming). But global warming is also a b*tch. If we don't 'warm' enough we enter a new ice age, and if we 'warm' too much we enter a new ice age... So the real key to our future/survival is to 'warm' somewhat.

I was told in a biology lesson that global warming is not exactly anything to be entirely concerned about.

It's a natural cycle, and apparently it was a lot warmer in the middle ages.

Originally posted by mashup
apparently it was a lot warmer in the middle ages.

You are talking about the "Little Climatic Optimum" which was unforunately followed by the "Little Ice Age."



55 million years ago was about the time that Chicxulub hit the Yucatan Penisula.


Of course the best is when the entire Earth was a giant slushie

Originally posted by NWguy83
Ok here is how it goes. Earth is a b*tch, every 100,000 years an ice age happens. Those last a long time, then it goes away (for 100,000 years). Well according to just about every scientist, our 100,000 are basically up. But we haven't started with a new ice age (thanks to global warming). But global warming is also a b*tch. If we don't 'warm' enough we enter a new ice age, and if we 'warm' too much we enter a new ice age... So the real key to our future/survival is to 'warm' somewhat.

The last ice age ended just 10 000 years ago, not 100 000. So we have 90 000 years left...
Anyway more interesting thing is - why there were sudently ice ages in last few millions of years? So far I know the climate was relatively stable (and warm) before. And then the warm-cold(ice) cycle began. Why?

[edit on 6-1-2006 by longbow]

The planet has a natural "carbon cycle", where carbon is stored in carbon sinks, such as trees, and the largest carbon sink, the ocean floor.

Over millenia, these sinks can't take in any more carbon dioxide, and it is released into the atmosphere, causing global warming (this explains the periods of global warming in earths distant past).

Man hasn't helped the situation, by artificially putting CO2 into the atmosphere, while chopping down all the trees we can find. The remaining carbon sinks are having trouble coping with all the CO2 we keep putting into the environment.

The scariest thing is, once the ocean floor cannot cope anymore, warming will get quicker, then the carbon dioxide, as well as methane stored in the sea bed, will be released, making it look as if the sea is "boiling" (its not, its the gas being released, along with colouring coming from all the organic material from the sea bed coming to the surface as well).

Once this happens, we have had it. There will be so much CO2 & methane in the atmospehere, the planet won't cope, and temperatues will rise alot more than they are already - most likely an extermination level event.

This was all in a documentary I saw on the BBC, part of the Horizon series:

The Day The Earth Nearly Died

Originally posted by longbow

Anyway more interesting thing is - why there were sudently ice ages in last few millions of years? So far I know the climate was relatively stable (and warm) before. And then the warm-cold(ice) cycle began. Why?

[edit on 6-1-2006 by longbow]

A google search of the term "Slushball Earth"

You might find some of these links interesting.

I tried to start a ATS thread on this subject once before, but apparently it was a bit too esoteric for some.

The planet has a natural "carbon cycle", where carbon is stored in carbon sinks, such as trees, and the largest carbon sink...

This is too disasterous prophecy. The climate was mach warmer during dinosaur era and CO2 levels were also much higher. THe temperature was not even nearly above extermination level though. Indeed that there will be much problems for 3rd world countries, but such disaster will probably never happen.
Anyway I am surprised that no one considers the benefits of global warming - for example the Russia and Canada could become cool places to live.

Originally posted by longbow
The last ice age ended just 10 000 years ago, not 100 000. So we have 90 000 years left...

The last ice age was around the time of the last of the cavemen. Are you telling me that cavemen died out only 10,000 years ago? Maybe dinosaurs died out 65,000 years ago, instead of 65,000,000 years ago. I just watched this show on the Science Channel a few months ago about ice ages.

Originally posted by NWguy83

Originally posted by longbow
The last ice age ended just 10 000 years ago, not 100 000. So we have 90 000 years left...

The last ice age was around the time of the last of the cavemen. Are you telling me that cavemen died out only 10,000 years ago? Maybe dinosaurs died out 65,000 years ago, instead of 65,000,000 years ago. I just watched this show on the Science Channel a few months ago about ice ages.

Who are "the cavemen" according to you? Cavemen are the people living in caves. Also modern people were cavemen and they never died out. But maybe I mistaken you, because there are "big" and "small" ice ages (glacial periods). we now still live in 4th "big" iceagae which started 40 million years ago (big iceage is defined as time period when there are ice caps on poles). During this big iceage there were smaller ones(glacial periods) with the cycle app 100 000 years like you said. And the last glacial period ended just 10 000 years ago, believe or not. We now live in interglacial period.
Seewikpedia ice age article.

I dont know. Honestly, stuff like this, carbon dating, etc., anything that has to do with things that went on millions of years ago, I dont put to much faith in. It is hard to reconstruct what went down by looking at "nutrients". but that is just me.

Originally posted by longbow
This is too disasterous prophecy. The climate was mach warmer during dinosaur era and CO2 levels were also much higher. THe temperature was not even nearly above extermination level though. Indeed that there will be much problems for 3rd world countries, but such disaster will probably never happen.

And yet an extermination DID happen 250 million years ago, caused by global warming, caused by the natural release of CO2 & methane from the ocean floor. The same thing may well happen again, this time given a helping hand by man.

Also, yes, it will most likely hit the 3rd world harder than most. Bound to. But we've seen what happens what the crop fails across the mid-west (back in the mid-30s), and this is the likely outcome for the west. Maybe not as bad as in the 3rd world, but still serious enough.

Originally posted by longbow
Anyway I am surprised that no one considers the benefits of global warming - for example the Russia and Canada could become cool places to live.

Northern Russia has already warmed. So much so, the amount of freshwater going into the Arctic Sea is alot higher than it was, due to the melting of permafrost across Siberia. This is already starting to cause the currents in the North Atlantic to move northwards, meaning the air currents that keep the UK warmer than Siberia are moving northwards. The UK will end up having the same sort of weather as Newfoundland (not a surprise as we're on the same latitude).

Originally posted by longbow
And the last glacial period ended just 10 000 years ago, believe or not. We now live in interglacial period.

Way off buddy.

The last major glacial thaw was 10,000 years ago, which means that the Earth is scheduled to head into another ice age.

You had the 10,000 year part right, but at the wrong time.

Here is the article link.

LiveScience

[edit on 6-1-2006 by NWguy83]