When CO2 Levels Doubled 55 Million Years Ago, Global Temperatures May Have Jumped 9°F in 13 Years

The Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) and associated carbon pulse “are often touted as the best geologic analog for the current” manmade rise in CO2 levels, as a new study notes.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paper, “Evidence for a rapid release of carbon at the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum,” concludes that sediment data indicates the carbon was released in the geologic blink of an eye.

When CO2 Levels Doubled 55 Million Years Ago, Global Temperatures May Have Jumped 9°F in 13 Years