Modern Rate of Fossil Fuel Carbon Dioxide Emissions Higher than Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum Global Warming 55.9 Million Years Ago

Many climate change deniers point to previous episodes of global warming as evidence our current climate crisis is natural. A new study published in Nature Geoscience has found that the modern rate of fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions is higher than during the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum period that occurred 55.9 million years ago. Eureka Alert reports:

Around 55.9 million years ago, the Earth experienced a period of intense global warming known as the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which lasted for around 170,000 years. During its main phase, average annual temperatures rose by around 5°C...

Based on their carbon isotope measurements and computer simulations of the Earth system, the researchers estimated that the rate of carbon emissions during the PETM peaked at between 300 million and 1,700 million metric tonnes per year, which is much slower than the present carbon emission rate.

"Our findings suggest that humankind may be causing atmospheric carbon dioxide to increase at rates never previously seen on Earth, which would suggest that current temperatures will potentially rise much faster than they did during the PETM," concluded Dr Harding.

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