[MCN] WHILE WE FIXATE ON COVID-19, EARTH IS HURTLING TOWARD A CATASTROPHE WORSE THAN THE DINOSAUR EXTINCTION

[Lance Olsen]

WHILE WE FIXATE ON COVID-19, EARTH IS HURTLING TOWARD A CATASTROPHE WORSE THAN THE DINOSAUR EXTINCTION
Andrew Glikson <https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-glikson-2348>, Australian National University.

<<https://www.inverse.com/science/climate-change-and-the-future-of-earth <https://www.inverse.com/science/climate-change-and-the-future-of-earth>>>

Excerpt

At several points in the history of our planet, increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have caused extreme global warming, prompting the majority of species <https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190708154057.htm> on Earth to die out.

In the past, these events were triggered by a huge volcanic eruption <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/volcanoes-may-have-triggered-the-last-unexplained-mass-extinction/> or asteroid impact. Now, Earth is heading for another mass extinction – and human activity is to blame.

I am an Earth and Paleo-climate scientist and have researched <https://link.springer.com/search?dc.creator=%22Andrew%20Y.+Glikson%22> the relationships between asteroid impacts, volcanism, climate changes and mass extinctions of species.

My research suggests the current growth rate of carbon dioxide emissions is faster than those which triggered two previous mass extinctions, including the event that wiped out the dinosaurs.

The world’s gaze may be focused on COVID-19 right now. But the risks to nature from human-made global warming – and the imperative to act – remain clear.


PAST MASS EXTINCTIONS — Many species can adapt to slow, or even moderate, environmental changes. But Earth’s history shows that extreme shifts in the climate can cause many species to become extinct <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-13/what-is-a-mass-extinction-are-we-in-one-now/11699372>.

For example, about 66 million years ago an asteroid hit Earth. The subsequently smashed rocks and widespread fires released massive amounts of carbon dioxide over about 10,000 years <https://www.pnas.org/content/99/12/7836>. Global temperatures soared, sea levels rose and oceans became acidic. About 80% of species <https://www.britannica.com/science/K-T-extinction>, including the dinosaurs, were wiped out.

And about 55 million years ago, global temperatures spiked again, over 100,000 years or so <https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo578;%20https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo1179;https://www.whoi.edu/fileserver.do?id=136084&pt=2&p=148709>. The cause of this event, known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum <https://www.britannica.com/science/Paleocene-Eocene-Thermal-Maximum>, is not entirely clear. One theory, known as the “methane burp” hypothesis <https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2010RG000326>, posits that a massive volcanic eruption triggered the sudden release of methane from ocean sediments, making oceans more acidic and killing off many species.

So is life on Earth now headed for the same fate?

COMPARING GREENHOUSE GAS LEVELS — Before industrial times began at the end of the 18th century, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere sat at around 300 parts per million <https://data.giss.nasa.gov/modelforce/ghgases/>. This means that for every one million molecules of gas in the atmosphere, 300 were carbon dioxide.

In February this year, atmospheric carbon dioxide reached 414.1 parts per million <https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/>. Total greenhouse gas level – carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide combined – reached almost 500 parts per million of carbon dioxide-equivalent <https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/>
Carbon dioxide is now pouring into the atmosphere at a rate of two to three parts per million each year <https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/>.

Using carbon records stored in fossils and organic matter, I have determined that current carbon emissions constitute an extreme event in the recorded history of Earth.

My research <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.13342> has demonstrated that annual carbon dioxide emissions are now faster than after both the asteroid impact that eradicated the dinosaurs (about 0.18 parts per million CO2 per year) and the thermal maximum 55 million years ago (about 0.11 parts per million CO2 per year).

End excerpt

<<https://www.inverse.com/science/climate-change-and-the-future-of-earth <https://www.inverse.com/science/climate-change-and-the-future-of-earth>>>
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“We are living on the surface of this planet … and with its climate and atmosphere. 
It has always been the task of mankind to find the right answer to the problem 
these conditions set us, and even today we cannot think that we have found a 
sufficient answer.” 
p. 131

The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler
by Heinz L. and Rowena R. Ansbacher, eds.
1956. Basic Books

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“We are living on the surface of this planet … and with its climate and atmosphere. 
It has always been the task of mankind to find the right answer to the problem 
these conditions set us, and even today we cannot think that we have found a 
sufficient answer.” 
p. 131

The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler
by Heinz L. and Rowena R. Ansbacher, eds.
1956. Basic Books

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