Posted on 02/28/2009 10:46:55 PM PST by neverdem
WASHINGTON: A new research has found that prehistoric global cooling that started in Antarctica about 35.5 million years ago, was caused by a sharp drop in the carbon dioxide (CO2) levels.
Even after the continent of Antarctica had drifted to near its present location, its climate was subtropical. Then, 35.5 million years ago, ice formed on Antarctica in about 100,000 years, which is an "overnight" shift in geological terms.
"Our studies show that just over thirty-five million years ago, 'poof,' there was an ice sheet where there had been subtropical temperatures before," said Matthew Huber, assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Purdue University.
"Until now, we haven't had much scientific information about what happened," he added.
Before the cooling occurred at the end of the Eocene epoch, the Earth was warm and wet, and even the north and south poles experienced subtropical climates. The dinosaurs were long gone from the planet, but there were mammals and many reptiles and amphibians.
Then, as the scientists say, poof, this warm wet world, which had existed for millions of years, dramatically changed.
Temperatures fell dramatically, many species of mammals as well as most reptiles and amphibians became extinct, and Antarctica was covered in ice and sea levels fell.
History records this as the beginning of the Oligocene epoch, but the cause of the cooling has been the subject of scientific discussion and debate for many years.
The research team found before the event ocean surface temperatures near present-day Antarctica averaged 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius).
Mark Pagani, professor of geology and geophysics at Yale University, said that the research found that air and ocean surface temperatures dropped as much as 18 degrees Fahrenheit during the transition.
"Previous reconstructions gave no evidence of high-latitude cooling. Our data demonstrate a clear temperature drop in both hemispheres during this time," said Pagani.
To find the result, Huber used modern climate modeling tools to look at the prehistoric climate. The models were run on a cluster-type supercomputer on Purdue's campus.
According to Huber, "We found that the likely culprit was a major drop in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, especially CO2."
"From the temperature data and existing proxy records indicating a sharp drop in CO2 near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, we are establishing a link between the sea surface temperatures and the glaciation of Antarctica," he said.
However, pCO2 records derived from stomata densities of terrestrial plant leaf remains suggest that pCO2 during the Eocene was not substantially higher than modern concentrations. In either case, it would appear that changes in post-middle Eocene climates were driven by factors other than pCO2, such as changes in continental elevations, oceanic circulation, and possibly sea level.
How about it got cooler during another glacial era?
My results indicate that following the expansion of ice on East Antarctica (ca. 14.5-12 Ma), pCO2 steadily increased until about 9 Ma and stabilized at pre-industrial values (ca. 290 ppmv; generally below the threshold level required by the pCO2-C4 hypothesis).pCO2 remained relatively constant throughout the late Miocene and therefore provide no evidence that changes in pCO2 forced ecological change during this time.
Hat tip to cogitator.
AND... all those who work for any corporation who has accepted TARP money!
On the other hand, God can make things happen rather quickly when He wants to.
Ice core date has shown that CO2 goes up AFTER global temperature rises, with a time lag of hundreds of years. The lag is long enough to disprove alGore’s modern CO2 paranoia. However I bet it is too short to be recognized in proxies from 35M years ago. How can these guys say the CO2 fell first back then, instead of falling after the cold wave? If all the evidence they cite is their computer models, than this just gives us another reason to laugh at them. GIGO.
Charles Krauthammer: The Obamaist Manifesto
Some noteworthy articles about politics, foreign or military affairs, IMHO, FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
Here’s all you need to know:
“To find the result, Huber used modern climate modeling tools to look at the prehistoric climate.”
Models, Poof in, Poof out.
bookmarked
Let’s hope the next Ice Age begins at Algore’s estate in TN and freezes that liar to the floor.
There is PROBABLY oil in Antartica! WHY can’t we drill there? Or at LEAST do preliminary seismic-shooting.
Thanks for the ping!
According to Huber, “We found that the likely culprit was a major drop in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, especially CO2.”
Climate models have never been validated because it is impossible to do so. Many people believe that they have been made particularly sensitive to CO2 because that is what the modelers want to see.
It is absurd to claim that a model that is not and cannot be validated that gives us a conveniently politically correct answer, has any credibility.
Now, if the result were the opposite, in the face of intense political pressure, that might be interesting.
The false belief in the computer models has become so bad that when the model results do not agree with the experimental data (as in the upper-troposphere cooling trend), they claim the data is wrong!
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