Quote from jem:
Interesting article... but no real link showing that the CO2 released caused the warming. there were numerous other potential drivers.
In fact I did not even see them state that the CO2 rose before the temperature rose... did you?
Here is some of the interesting speculation from your link....
today investigators think the PETM unfolded something like this: As is true of
our current climate crisis, the PETM began, in a sense, with the burning of fossil
fuels. At the time the supercontinent Pangaea was in the final stages of breaking
up, and the earthâs crust was ripping apart, forming the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. As a result, huge volumes of molten rock
and intense heat rose up through the landmass that encompassed Europe and Greenland, baking carbon-rich sediments
and perhaps even some coal and oil near the surface. The baking
sediments, in turn, released large doses of two strong greenhouse
gases, carbon dioxide and methane. Judging by the enormous
volume of the eruptions, the volcanoes probably accounted for
an initial buildup of greenhouse gases on the order of a few hundred petagrams of carbon, enough to raise global temperature by
a couple of degrees. But most analyses, including ours, suggest it
took something more to propel the PETM to its hottest point.
A second, more intense warming phase began when the volcano-induced heat set other types of gas release into motion.
Natural stirring of the oceans ferried warmth to the cold seabed,
where it apparently destabilized vast stores of frozen methane
hydrate deposits buried within. As the hydrates thawed, methane gas bubbled up to the surface, adding more carbon into the
atmosphere. Methane in the atmosphere traps heat much more
effectively than CO2
does, but it converts quickly to CO2
. Still, as
long as the methane release continued, elevated concentrations
