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Originally Posted by Normal
Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM was of course our fastest warming at almost 6 degrees Celsius in a very short period of time. Even so, this period we are in now could warm up the earth almost as quickly. Fortunately none of us will live to see it.
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This event is commonly mentioned to scare those not familiar with the full history of climate change -- which is discussed at the Weather Club. First, the PETM was not the fastest warming event in history as it took more than 10,000 years for temperatures to increase about 6 C. Second, the fastest warming events ever discovered are called the Dansgaard Oecshger events (D-O events). We know of 25 of these D-O events within the last 100,000 years ... but most importantly, temperatures rose at a phenomenal rate of 10 C in only 70 years ... that's 1 C every 7 years! And like with the PETM ... CO2 rose after temperatures did. No one knows why either of these events occurred ... but we do know CO2 makes life on earth healthier.