How fossil fuel burning nearly wiped out life on Earth – 250m years ago

[Binkie The Clown]

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In the media, if not scientific literature, global catastrophes have long been associated with asteroid strikes. But as the dating of rocks has improved, the links have vanished. Even the famous meteorite impact at Chicxulub in Mexico, widely blamed for the destruction of the dinosaurs, was out of sync by more than 100,000 years.

The story that emerges repeatedly from the fossil record is mass extinction caused by three deadly impacts, occurring simultaneously: global warming, the acidification of the oceans and the loss of oxygen from seawater. All these effects are caused by large amounts of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. When seawater absorbs CO2, its acidity increases. As temperatures rise, circulation in the oceans stalls, preventing oxygen from reaching the depths.

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What was the cause? It now appears that it might have been the burning of fossil fuel......
The volcanoes exploded through the Tunguska sedimentary basin,cooking much of the coal, petroleum and methane it contained. Particles of coal fly ash have been found in rocks as far away as the Canadian Arctic. Rising temperatures might also have destabilised methane hydrates – a frozen form of natural gas – causing the kind of runaway feedback that terrifies some climate scientists today. Yes: the geological record suggests that fossil fuel burning might have eliminated most life on Earth.

On Edit: Forgot the all-important LINK

[pansypoo53219]

1. we almost had cars in the 1700's century. if they had believed in the inventor, i wonder if we would

be better off or worse. what would they have used to fuel it?

[Unknown Beatle]

2. I think it was earlier than that.

The use of steam power has been around for centuries, but the steam devices then, were mere toys. It would not be until the 1600's; when an attempt to harness the power of steam began. Ferdinand Verbiest made a model steam carriage in 1678, which moved by using a principle that suggested the modern turbine.

http://www.history1700s.com/index.php/articles/24-science-and-technology/35-early-automobiles.html

[drray23]

3. yes but this model was too small to carry people.

nicolas cugnot is the first one who made it in 1770.

http://www.nicolascugnot.com/eng.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. From a climate point of view, we'd have been worse off; they'd have used coal

which is more compact to carry than wood. Either would have been bad, ecologically. Coal was what they used a few decades later for the railways. Whether 'cars' could have taken off in the 18th century is doubtful, though; for independent vehicles, you need them to be reliable, and technology wasn't. On a train, you can have an expert ride along with the engine, but that's only feasible when there's a lot of cargo going with each expert.