Current CO2 levels not far from past scenario of green Arctic and 80ft higher sea levels
Three million years ago, the Arctic was home to green forests and global sea levels sat 80 feet higher than they are today. Research by the USGS into this warm period is providing scientists with clues into the relationship between CO2 levels and the global climate.
During this mid-Pliocene epoch, atmospheric CO2 levels were only about 5% higher than they are today– Atmospheric CO2 levels at that time were about 400 parts per million. According to the IPCC, CO2 levels in 2007 were at 383.1 parts per million.
Analysis of the climate during that period, derived from data in fossilized plants and plankton, shows that global temperatures were around 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they are today.
While scientists are using this data to help refine their computer models that are used to predict climate behavior, it is interesting to also see how close we are to the same conditions that caused this extreme climate condition.
Some might argue that these past CO2 peaks and valleys illustrate that the climate changes naturally on its own, and humans will just have to adapt. While that is, of course true, it does not lead to the conclusion that humans aren’t causing this current change in climate. I recall hearing a government scientist on NPR claim that it was “arrogant” to think that humans should decide whether a change in the climate is bad. I would argue the opposite– that it is arrogant to think it is OK for us to change the climate. Nature has been doing this a lot longer than us, and we have no business helping her out.
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