A string of spurious and extreme global warming events identified as Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) has occurred on Earth around 55 million years ago. While a limited amount of information is known about the incident, there is reason to believe that the period has been contributory to the rise of mammals on the planet.
Experts have evidence that during that era, a comet plunges into the world. However, it remains unclear if this development is related to the planet's warming transition at that time.
Over the years, the PETM has been an interesting subject considering that today's climate change issue can be related to that foregone period. Around this era, carbon dioxide has quickly spiked. Global temperature, which has been pegged from five to eight degrees Centigrade, floats for the next 150,000 years.
Although the origin of massive carbon presence is not yet known, theories suggest that extraterrestrial existence and volcanic eruptions have instigated the element's release.
Researchers from New York's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute plow through a part of the Atlantic Coastal Plain in order to investigate an area that has long been known to be affiliated with the glacier-formed Paleocene-Eocene border. Found on the locations are diminutive glass spheres with divergent designs.
According to research head Morgan Schaller, crystallites in glasses present internal textures that signify quick alleviation caused by extreme temperature.
The presence of microcraters in crystallites indicates that the particles solidified while in mid-air before settling on the ground. Based on this observation, experts point out that terrestrial items have their sediments thrown on the Earth's surface during a meteorite crash.
The spike in warm condition may have corresponded with the dispersal of mammals into three groups that continue to exist up to the present. First are the Primates to where humans belong. Second is the circle called the Artiodactyla which include the camels, giraffes, pigs and sheep. Perissodactyla is the last order which have the horses, rhinos and zebras under it.
However, the rapid evolutionary approach of mammals remains a mystery although the absence of ice during the PETM period may have been contributory. Ocean-dwelling animals become extinct but the mammals on land have found opportunities to thrive as these organisms move out towards the opposing poles.
