For Starters…

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is becoming an increasingly interesting and important period in the history of the Earth. It was a period in Earth’s history around 55 million years ago associated with rapid global warming and major ecological shifts over a period of a few thousand years. It is by no means the most infamous or dramatic event in the past; being easily overshadowed by the KT Extinction 65.5 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs, or the Permian extinction that almost annihilated life on Earth. However, our understanding of PETM in recent years has provided invaluable information for the anthropogenically-induced climate change of the Anthropocene. 

Over the course of this blog I hope to find out about the causes and effects of this sudden and intense shift in global environmental patterns and attempt to relate it to how we might best understand how our climate today will behave in the future. 

Here is a nice, quick video by the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies, which provides a brief introduction to the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum by paleontologist Scott Wing. Enjoy!