By studying chemicals in long-dead, single-celled plankton called foraminifera, though, the team behind the new study was able to extend the climate record back 2.1 million years Full Story »
Posted by Dwight Rousu
The short report of the study gives historical perspective to todays' problems of global climate change and ocean acidification.
The study team, led by geochemist Bärbel Hönisch, found evidence disproving the theory that the longer, stronger ice ages that kicked in about 850,000 years ago were caused by a steady, ongoing drop in CO2. Instead, CO2 levels seesawed over the 2.1 million years, dropping during ice ages then bouncing back. What’s more, the average CO2 level during warm periods was 38 percent lower than the average we see today.
Human population growth needs to be reversed.