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A team of scientists have confirmed a direct link between declining
CO2 levels and the formation of Antarctic ice caps some 34 million
years ago.
It's kinda like inverse Global Warming. During the Eocene-Oligocene
transition atmospheric CO2 levels reached a tipping point of 760
parts per million (ppm) causing the Antarctic ice sheet to form. The
biggest climate change since a meteor-sized can of whoopass allegedly
took out the dinosaurs.
The findings came from a team of scientists from Cardiff, Bristol and
Texas A&M universities who extracted microfossils from rocks in East
Africa village of Stakishari. They mapped out large expanses of bush
and wilderness to piece together the underlying local rock formations.
Professor Paul Pearson from Cardiff University, who led the mission
said: "About 34 million years ago the Earth experienced a mysterious
cooling trend. Glaciers and small ice sheets developed in Antarctica,
sea levels fell and temperate forests began to displace tropical-type
vegetation in many areas."
Co-author Dr Gavin Foster from the University of Bristol Earth
Sciences Department said: "By using the rather unique set of samples
from Tanzania and a new analytical technique that I developed, we
have, for the first time, been able to reconstruct the concentration
of CO2 across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary - the time period about
34 million years ago when ice sheets first started to grow on Eastern
Antarctica. "
It took a drilling rig and hundreds of meters of samples to find the
exact piece of history they were looking for. There's also the part
about braving the lions and hyenas of the African wilderness.
Co-author Dr Bridget Wade from Texas A&M University Department of
Geology and Geophysics added: "Our study is the first to provide a
direct link between the establishment of an ice sheet on Antarctica
and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and therefore confirms the
relationship between carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and
global climate."
Currently, we are pushing about 400 ppm in atmospheric CO2 levels and
undoubtedly disasters like Katrina are the result. Yah, I know...the
levees also kinda sucked. But prior to our Industrial Revolution, we
were at 275 ppm and I think it's high time we returned.
(...)
