Home > Uncategorized > Climate Change Real 15 Million Years Ago

Climate Change Real 15 Million Years Ago

I'm still amazed that people are clubbing each over the head about climate change. I took a geology class (or was it two) at University of Washington (not exactly a bastion of conservatism) way back in the late 1980's or early 1990's. One of the things we learned was that Montana used to have a climate similar to Hawaii. We learned about Continental Drift, etc. The planet and climate constantly change. The environment is a self-correcting system. So why people can't come to grips with the fact that the planet is in a constant state of flux, and this flux started before human life even began?

So, it doesn't surprise me when studies of ice cores in Antarctica from over 15 million years ago show a sudden warming. Temperatures were 50 degrees or so at the high end. There was an abundance of life, small woody shrub-like plants, algae, etc. You can read the full article at Watts Up With That.

An interesting and related (although not specifically addressing climate) article was written by John Mauldin over at The Big Picture. He writes how there are fingers of instability in sand piles. These fingers can be triggered by one grain of sand hitting any of the unstable fingers, leading to all kinds of catastrophic results. He also makes the case that stability begets instability. If this is true, the worst thing we might attempt to do to "save" the planet is to attempt to stop climate change in its track. The article also has interesting implications for the economy, political systems, etc.

Change happens. Maybe our biggest mistake is attempting to keep everything the same. That isn't saying that there isn't truth or that we should draft up a new Constitution every 50 years. However, we live in an inherently unstable world, and we are probably much less responsible for changes in the environment than we think.

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