The Earth used to be much hotter. Why that’s bad news for people now.

7 comments

1. An ambitious effort to understand the Earth’s climate over the past 485 million years has revealed a history of wild shifts and far hotter temperatures than scientists previously realized — offering a reminder of how much [change the planet](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2023/anthropocene-geologic-time-crawford-lake/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2) has already endured and a warning about the unprecedented rate of [warming caused by humans.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/20/climate-change-ipcc-report-15/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2)

   The timeline, published Thursday in the journal Science, is the most rigorous reconstruction of Earth’s past temperatures ever produced, the authors say. Created by combining more than 150,000 pieces of fossil evidence with state-of-the-art climate models, it shows the intimate link between [carbon dioxide](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/06/05/carbon-dioxide-growing-climate-change/?itid=lk_inline_manual_3) and [global temperatures](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/07/27/hottest-days-ever-recorded-climate-change/?itid=lk_inline_manual_3) and reveals that the world was in a much warmer state for most of the history of complex animal life.

   At its hottest, the study suggests, the Earth’s average temperature reached 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit (36 degrees Celsius) — far higher than the historic 58.96 F (14.98 C) the [planet hit last year](https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/11/30/earth-hottest-year-wmo/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4).

   The revelations about Earth’s scorching past are further reason for concern about modern climate change, said Emily Judd, a researcher at University of Arizona and the Smithsonian specializing in ancient climates and the lead author of the study. The timeline illustrates how swift and dramatic temperature shifts were associated with many of the world’s worst moments — including a [mass extinction](https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/the-great-dying/) that [wiped out roughly 90 percent](https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/the-great-dying/) of all species and the asteroid strike that killed the dinosaurs.

   Read more here: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/09/19/earth-temperature-global-warming-planet/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/09/19/earth-temperature-global-warming-planet/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)

2. 1. Humans weren’t around back then
   2. Even if they did, farrming and civilization didn’t exist
   3. Even if it did, industrialization wasn’t a thing

   You see where I am going with this? Climate change is not bad for the planet as planet will always recover. It is bad for us, humans and more specifically, our lifestyle, which we have become accustomed to. Humans thrived the last five thousand years because of incredibly stable climate. Now it is changing far faster than our industrialized civilization can adapt.

3. 8°C of ECS is nearly double the rate the IPCC is using to estimate future warming.

   If this turns out to be true, we’re beyond screwed.

   This is “end of civilization” kinda bad.

4. People can laugh at Geoengineering efforts all they want, but this goes to show no matter what we do they might be necessary if we want to survive on this planet

5. I mean…that instant heat from the potential asteroid of 6-12km wide is likely comparable to the CO2 we are pumping out now.

   But these dumb 💩 GOP fools keep saying “energy is what caused inflation and we need to drill more so inflation will slow”…what in the F nightmare are we living!?

6. Yes but won’t at least some humans, the wealthy and some scientists be able to move underground?

7. Smoke if you got em