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The warm Paleocene climate, much like that of the Cretaceous, allowed for diverse polar forests. Whereas precipitation is a major factor in plant diversity nearer the equator, polar plants had to adapt to varying light availability (polar nights and midnight suns) and temperatures. Because of this, plants from both poles independently evolved ...
It was only in the 20th century that paleoclimatology became a unified scientific field. Before, different aspects of Earth's climate history were studied by a variety of disciplines. [5] At the end of the 20th century, the empirical research into Earth's ancient climates started to be combined with computer models of increasing complexity.
The Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), alternatively ”Eocene thermal maximum 1 (ETM1)“ and formerly known as the "Initial Eocene" or “Late Paleocene thermal maximum", was a geologically brief time interval characterized by a 5–8 °C global average temperature rise and massive input of carbon into the ocean and atmosphere.
The Earth's poles were cool and temperate; North America, Europe, Australia, and South America were warm and temperate; equatorial areas were warm; and the climate around the Equator was hot and arid. [citation needed] In the Paleocene, the Earth's climate was much warmer than today's by as much as 15 °C and atmospheric CO 2 was around 500 ...
Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum: 53.7: Eocene Thermal Maximum 2: 49: Azolla event may have ended a long warm period 5.3–2.6: Pliocene climate became cooler and drier, and seasonal, similar to modern climates. 2.5 to present: Quaternary glaciation, with permanent ice on the polar regions, many named stages in different parts of the world
Throughout Earth's climate history (Paleoclimate) its climate has fluctuated between two primary states: greenhouse and icehouse Earth. [1] Both climate states last for millions of years and should not be confused with the much smaller glacial and interglacial periods, which occur as alternating phases within an icehouse period (known as an ice age) and tend to last less than one million years ...
The geologic temperature record are changes in Earth's environment as determined from geologic evidence on multi-million to billion (10 9) year time scales. The study of past temperatures provides an important paleoenvironmental insight because it is a component of the climate and oceanography of the time.
The hottest part of the last greenhouse earth was the Late Paleocene - Early Eocene. This was a hothouse period that lasted from 65 to 55 million years ago. The hottest part of this torrid age was the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, 55.5 million years ago. Average global temperatures were around 30 °C (86 °F). [14]