John Wheeler: Earth's climate has always been changing - Detroit Lakes Tribune
John Wheeler: Earth's climate has always been changing - InForum | Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo news, weather and sports
John Wheeler: Earth's climate has always been changing
This is why the sudden increase in greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels is such a concern today.
FARGO — The climate of our planet has been anything but static. One particular period of climate upheaval occurred during the late Triassic Period, around 234 million years ago, in an event known as the Carnian Pluvial Episode. The records of geological strata and fossils indicate a dramatic change from a warm and arid world to a tropical and humid world filled with swamps, ferns, and dinosaurs.
The geological record offers strong evidence of numerous climate upheavals such as this throughout prehistory, often with results that dramatically changed life on Earth. Climatologists recognize chemical changes to the atmosphere, whether natural or anthropogenic, are more than capable of changing the state of the Earth's climate, which is why the sudden increase in greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels is such a concern today.
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”