Scientists from the University of Geneva believe that an analogy can be drawn with modern changes in the planet's climate.
Swiss scientists and their colleagues from the Netherlands and the United States have come to the conclusion that global warming is fraught with major changes in its landscape. The basis for such a conclusion was given to them by a study of the consequences of an increase in temperature from 5 to 8 degrees Celsius that was observed on the planet about 56 million ago, conducted in the Pyrenees. "Our research proves that the risks associated with climate warming are much more serious than generally accepted," said Professor at the University of Geneva Sebastian Casteltor.
According to this university on its website, in the course of scientific work, experts studied the impact of the warming that occurred about 56 million years ago - on the border of the Paleocene and Eocene - known as the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum. The rise in temperature took place in a short period of time by the standards of the Earth's history - within 10-20 thousand years, and the return to the previous state took several hundred thousand years. It was a time when palm trees grew in the North Pole region and species of plankton that are characteristic of the tropics spread throughout the globe.
The Pyrenees were chosen for the study of the landscape, as there are preserved deposits, which can be used to determine where the channels of ancient rivers passed and how wide they were. By the size of the pebbles and the height difference in the channels, the experts established the depth of the rivers and the speed of water flows. 56 million years ago, the Pyrenees were in the process of formation, and there were many small rivers in their foothills. They carried sediments into the valley that made it fertile. As explained by Professor Casteltor, "with the warming, the landscape has completely changed: exceptionally large floods, occurring every 2-3 years, the onset of which we were able to determine, became about 14 times more abundant than before." The rivers constantly changed direction and expanded. The sediments no longer remained in the valley, but were carried away into the ocean. The terrain was dominated by large areas of gravel,through which stormy streams rushed.
According to scientists, warming at that time caused a sharp increase in precipitation, summers became hotter, and floods more intense. Research carried out in the Pyrenees shows "an obvious analogy with current warming," says Sebastian Casteltor. According to him, "lessons must be learned" from the events of the past, especially since the current warming is happening much faster.