Hallo Heath --
"When CO2 Levels Doubled 55 Million Years Ago, Earth May Have Warmed 9°F In 13
Years"
I suggest a close reading of the original paper:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/09/13/1309188110.full.pdf
which suggests that the cause of this rapid uptick is of extraplanetary origin
(see **):
"Proposed mechanisms include the destabilization of the global methane reservoir
by a thermal trigger (2, 4) or physical disturbance (5), production of
thermogenic CH4 and CO2 during the emplacement of a large igneous province (6,
7), wild fires burning peatlands (8), desiccation of a large epicontinental sea
(9), decomposition of terrestrial permafrost (10), and **bolide impact** (11, 12)."
and
"Given the rapidity of the onset, magnitude of the δ13C excursion, and that the
observed calcite compensation depth shoaling in deep ocean requires ∼3,000
GtC(3), two mechanisms meet these criteria: large igneous province-produced
thermogenic methane and **cometary carbon**. The latter is consistent with the
recent discovery of a substantial accumulation of nonbiogenic magnetic
nanoparticles in the Marlboro clay, whose origin is **best ascribed to impact
condensate**."
The time-scale for the particular uptick that they have well-researched is
dramatic, but the source (and thus, mechanism and replication in our present
situation) is entirely different. The journalistic conjectures drawn from this
paper are just that, conjecture, and rather hyperbolic and simplistic at that...
Breathless (no pun intended!) climate change reporting like this does not really
contribute to a rational discussion.
And his hyperdramatic "stages of collapse" is really over the top in terms of
conjecture with no facts (in the style of Faux News!).
However, it is well-established principle in bio-systems that whatever the
organism, when an energy source becomes available, that organism will simply
consume the energy source until it is gone. There may be some minor (cyclic
seasonal) storage mechanisms in place, but otherwise, *not eating* food that it
in front of it is only an option when satiated. And when there is a glut,
populations will rise until the glut is gone... It's all human hubris to expect
that "our" bio-system response will be any different than the precursor 3
billion years of organismic activity on the planet.
Some bio-system analysts ascribe 90% of the global human population to be a
direct result of the easy availability of hydrocarbon of the last 150 years.
That would be everyone around the [spectre] table -- we and all our
career-oriented activities are the transitory and perhaps spurious results of
that glut.
And, no, no matter what we do, the planet will not be uninhabitable, it will
simply be passed over to another species ... at no great loss in the big picture.
jh
--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dr. John Hopkins, BSc, MFA, PhD
http://neoscenes.net/
http://tech-no-mad.net/blog/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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