strictlysupreme Chapter 787 - 493: Reunion with the Lion Skeleton Knight
Chapter 787 - 493: Reunion with the Lion Skeleton Knight
Animals multiplied and thrived in the warm forests, forming new forms such as herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. However, under the high temperatures of the PETM period, some animals began to shrink in size, which is similar to the phenomenon biologists are finding in today’s mammals. For example, in cold climates, moose generally weigh about 80 pounds (approximately 36.28 kilograms) more than their southern counterparts.
This is because larger animals have a greater ability to retain internal heat; their body surface area exposed to the natural environment is smaller relative to their overall mass, so they lose heat more slowly. But in hot seasons, warmth is less important, and expelling excess heat becomes key to survival. Smaller organisms, with a larger surface area to weight ratio, can shed heat more easily. For instance, an early horse known as Sifrhippus sandrae shrank by nearly a third during the PETM period, while an early primate known as Cantius abditus decreased in size by about 10% from the mid to late PETM period.
Insect "survival" diversity increases
Unlike mammals, the PETM period was undoubtedly a good time for insects as the warm climate promoted the spread of dry tropical forests northward. Since many insects are ectothermic (their body temperature and physiological requirements are related to the climate of their habitat), climate warming opened new doors for the emergence of numerous tiny organisms.
Climate warming opened new doors for the emergence of numerous tiny organisms, provided by Red Star News.
These evidences are preserved in fossils from this period. Scientists say that over 5,000 plant fossils from before, during, and after the PETM period show a rise in both insect quantity and the diversity of damages they caused. Meanwhile, a study conducted at the Big Horn Basin in Wyoming, USA, indicates that more than half of the leaves in the fossils left from this period were damaged by insects, a figure 20% higher than before or after the PETM period.
Now, some insects, such as certain mosquitoes and ticks, are already adapting to new climate environments and expanding into new life domains. A study in 2019 estimated that by 2080, the number of people exposed to mosquito-borne diseases globally could increase by nearly one billion.
Species "replacement" speed is extremely fast
On Earth, changes are happening every minute and second, with some species heading towards extinction and others evolving. Paleontologists refer to the speed at which new species replace old species as "replacement." Fossils from Paleocene marine remains indicate that the "replacement" process happened at an extremely fast speed during the PETM period near the Earth’s surface.
The "replacement" process happened at an extremely fast speed during the PETM period near the Earth’s surface, provided by Red Star News from Paleocene marine remains.
In the shallow water areas near the coast, snails and clams died out one after another, only to be quickly replaced by similar mollusks, which performed the same ecological roles—filtering sand and eating algae. However, the changes in other species were even more dramatic, such as triggerfish and pufferfish, which took nearly 20 million years to evolve enough new species to restore their lost diversity after experiencing a massive extinction.
Near the equator, coral polyps similar to those now surviving disappeared, and disc-shaped organisms known as "large foraminifers" filled their ecological niches, becoming the builders of coral reefs until the ocean finally cooled again several million years later.
Precipitation causes global climate of extreme contrasts
During the PETM period, rising temperatures caused global rain cycles to change, providing the necessary help for the spread of subtropical canopies, producing polar swamp forests.
Most of the Earth’s weather patterns: the way air and water circulate in the ocean and sky, are influenced by the temperature difference between the hot equator and the cold poles, provided by Red Star News.
In the Paleocene to early Eocene, water near the middle of the Earth evaporated to form rain clouds, causing precipitation in tropical and polar latitude regions. However, climate warming altered airflows, causing more equatorial moisture to reach the far north and south polar regions before returning to Earth. This is one reason ancient hickories and cypress trees could grow in Arctic regions, providing climbing places for lemurs and primates.
By the end of this century, research suggests that the soil in the southwestern United States will be 10% to 20% drier than it is now, with the risk of drought increasing by at least 20%, provided by Red Star News.
But the rain eventually has to go somewhere, and in some parts of the world, increased moist weather means dry regions will evaporate even more water. Today’s climate change might produce similar effects, with wetter winters already increasing the frequency of destructive floods in northwestern Europe. Meanwhile, the southwestern United States is getting drier year by year. Research indicates that by the end of this century, soil in the southwestern United States will be 10% to 20% drier than it is now, with the risk of drought increasing by at least 20%.
Hundreds of global bodies of water may revert to PETM period conditions
At the beginning of the PETM period, ocean temperatures were already very high. For instance, before the warming, the equatorial temperature of the Ancient Atlantic was 36.6 degrees, about 8.8 degrees higher than the current Atlantic temperatures. The unbearably hot seawater caused the deep sea to lose its cooling source as oxygen levels in the water decreased. Meanwhile, global warming led to massive absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans, causing a sharp increase in seawater acidity, with very few life forms able to survive in such suffocating conditions.