January 30, 2014 – Deep Time, Global Change and YOU lecture series: Global Warming 56 Million Years Ago & What it Means for Us.

Presented by Dr. Scott Wing, Smithsonian Institute

Human greenhouse gas emissions will alter conditions on earth for thousands of years. The past event that best mirrors current warming occurred 56 million years ago & is called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM.
Dr. Wing will explain what we know about the causes of PETM, and what we have learned about its effects on ecosystems. The lessons of deep time have great relevance as we rapidly mold our planet in the ongoing geological epoch, the Anthropocene. http://sfu.ca/cstudies/science

• Ancient Climate Events: Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth103/node/639
• Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleocene%E2%80%93Eocene_Thermal_Maximum