By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent Tue Apr 24, 7:39 PM ET
COAL MINE SEVEN, Svalbard, Norway (Reuters) - Fossils of a hippopotamus-like creature on an Arctic island show the climate was once like that of Florida, giving clues to risks from modern global warming, a scientist said.
Fossil footprints of a pantodont, a plant-eating creature weighing about 400 kg (880 lb), add to evidence of sequoia-type trees and crocodile-like beasts in the Arctic millions of years ago when greenhouse gas concentrations in the air were high.
"The climate here about 55 million years ago was more like that of Florida," Appy Sluijs, an expert in ancient ecology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, said in Coal Mine Seven on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.
"Where we are now was once a temperate rainforest," he said on Tuesday, at the end of a horizontal mine shaft 5 kms (3 miles) inside a mountain and 300 meters (600 feet) below the surface.
He pointed to a row of footprint impressions found in December in the roof of the mine north of Longyearbyen, the main settlement on the barren treeless Norwegian archipelago 1,000 km (600 miles) from the North Pole.
Sluijs said forests grew in the Arctic when carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, was at about 1,000 parts per million in the atmosphere because of natural swings in the climate.
And he said such concentrations point to risks with surging modern emissions stoked by human use of fossil fuels -- greenhouse gas concentrations are at the highest in at least 650,000 years and rising fast.
"It's a worrying scenario for future global warming," he told a group of students studying climate change. The ancient warming was triggered by natural shifts, perhaps linked to volcanic activity and a thaw of frozen methane.
ICE FREE
Sea levels 55 million years ago were about 100 meters higher than now -- Antarctica was free of ice.
"We are starting processes that will last for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years," he said of modern emissions from burning fossil fuels in power plants, factories and cars.
When Svalbard was hot -- the islands were also close to the North Pole 55 million years ago -- many parts of the globe near the equator would have been too hot for modern plants and animals that have adapted to a modern climate, he said.
Carbon dioxide levels are now at almost 390 per million in the atmosphere, up from 270 before the Industrial Revolution and rising fast. Sluijs said they could reach 1,000 parts per million by 2100 if not held in check.
I just saw this and had to post it. This is hilarious because nothing in the article supports the title or the scientist's claims. For his sake, i hope this is poor journalism and not a stupid scientist. I bolded some of the best segments, but read it through.
Here's the reply:
Arctic island show the climate was once like that of Florida, giving clues to risks from modern global warming, a scientist said. How does the environment reverting back to how it used to be prove global warming? Wouldn't it be just the oppisite?
Arctic millions of years ago when greenhouse gas concentrations in the air were high. Greenhouse gas concentrations in the air were high millions of years ago? Really now. But I thought it was all our fault. Don't tell me Al Gore lied!
"The climate here (the Artic) about 55 million years ago was more like that of Florida." And it's nowwhere near that now and won't be any time soon. Where is this proof?
"Where we are now (Artic) was once a temperate rainforest." See above for this one.
Sluijs said forests grew in the Arctic when carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, was at about 1,000 parts per million in the atmosphere because of natural swings in the climate. NATURAL swings in the climate? You don't say! You sure there weren't cars back then spouting off all that carbon dioxide? How else could it have happened?
Greenhouse gas concentrations are at the highest in at least 650,000 years. But you said 55 million years ago that it was so bad. What's with the 650,000 years? Are you trying not to tell me that global temperatures go up and down over thousands of years? When was the last ice age? 20,000 years ago? But it's hot now. And the one before that? 150,000 years ago? But then it got warm. And the one before that? 250,000 years ago. See a pattern?
The ancient warming was triggered by natural shifts, perhaps linked to volcanic activity and a thaw of frozen methane. And why can't that be a major cause now? Are there no more volcanoes in existance? Is there no more methane in the world? I'm failing to see your case for global warming here.
Sea levels 55 million years ago were about 100 meters higher than now -- Antarctica was free of ice. Antartica was free of ice before? Several times actually. And the water levels were that much higher in the past. So where's the evidence for global warming?
Carbon dioxide levels are now at almost 390 per million in the atmosphere, up from 270 before the Industrial Revolution. Weren't they at 1000 ppm before? So how is 390 ppm so horrible to the planet if it has been 150% higher than that at least in the past?
Sluijs said they could reach 1,000 parts per million by 2100 if not held in check. Really? So you're saying that the largest increase in industry the world has ever seen only increased it by 120 ppm over 150 years, but now that we have recycling and conservation it will increase by another 610 ppm in less than 100 years? Of course. Makes perfect sense.
Get the point? There is NOTHING in this article that supports ANY claims this guy makes about global warming. Just the oppisite in fact. If it wasn't for the fact that this guy is looking for evidence to support what he already thinks, i'd suggest that those who don't believe in global warming should call him for a witness. He helps them out more than anything.
Ryan
