The amount CO 2 that entered the atmosphere during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal

Question

The amount CO2 that entered the atmosphere during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is estimated to be the equivalent of

A. the amount human activity would release to the atmosphere with the burning of all Earth's fossil-fuel reserves. B. burning all of Earth's fossil fuel supply repeatedly 100 times over a 50 year period. C. the amount released to the atmosphere due to agricultural practices and rapid human population growth in China since 1980. D. the amount released to the atmosphere by the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption. E. the amount released to the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

Explanation / Answer

The amount CO2 that entered the atmosphere during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is estimated to be the equivalent of the amount human activity would release to the atmosphere with the burning of all Earth's fossil-fuel reserves.

Because during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal maximum, the temperature rises more than 8oC. The entire warm period lasted for about 200,000 years. Main cause of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal maximum is injection of CO2 to the atmosphere which is equivalent to the emission of CO2 to the atmosphere by the human activity with burning of all Earth's fossil-fuel reserves. Oxygen isotope and Mg/Ca of carbonate shells precipitated in surface waters of the ocean are commonly used measurements for reconstructing past temperature.

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