Mass extinction forecast with 6C temperature rise

[marmar]

By Paul Brown

Hobbit-sized humans, able to exist on less nourishing food, will have the best chance of survival in a warmer world, scientists say.


LONDON, 7 January – Animals, including humans, will shrink in size to survive in a warming world, according to scientists studying the last time the planet’s temperature rose rapidly by 6°C. What scientists call dwarfism was the successful strategy to avoid starvation for a large range of species including horses, many insects and even earthworms. The widespread response was partly to do with the heat but mostly because many plants became less nutritious, forcing mammals and insects to eat far more to survive.

In the next 100 years the combination of more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and increased temperature could be “catastrophic” for an overpopulated world, according to one of the scientists involved. With food supply drastically reduced, evolutionary forces suggest hobbit-sized humans who needed to eat less would have the greatest chance of survival. These findings are the work of an international group of 30 scientists looking at the vast fossil deposits in rock strata in Wyoming in the US, charting the period 55 million years ago when the Earth’s temperature rose suddenly – as it is expected to do this century.

On that occasion it took 10,000 years for the temperature to rise by 6°C. There were mass extinctions, but the timescale gave some plants and animals time to adapt and move north and south to survive. Many species evolved quickly – dwarfism being one of the most widespread and successful strategies.

The project, entitled the Bighorn Basin Coring Project, involves scientists from the US, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a United States National Science Foundation-funded project, aimed at understanding what happened the last time the Earth warmed and the consequences for the planet this century. The scientists leading the project are Will Clyde (University of New Hampshire), Philip Gingerich (University of Michigan) and Scott Wing (Smithsonian Institution). ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/2013/01/mass-extinction-forecast-with-6c-temperature-rise/

[kestrel91316]

1. Humans and macrofauna cannot evolve in a short time (100 years). We have evolved very little

in the past 100,000 years. Not gonna happen.

Don't sign any long-term contracts folks. You'll never collect. Greedy, shortsighted bastards have doomed us all.

[Tsiyu]

2. Well, Randy Newman was wrong all along

I KNEW it!