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Atmospheric CO2 levels are currently higher than they have been in the past 3 million years. https://e360.yale.edu/digest/co2-concentrations-hit-highest-levels

• soperj 6y ago
  From your article: >The last time CO2 levels were this high was during the Pliocene Epoch, 5.3 to 2.6 million years ago, when the Earth was several degrees warmer, sea levels were an estimated 50 feet higher than they are today, and forests grew as far north as the Arctic. Doesn't really point to phytoplankton populations crashing as being a likely scenario.
  • j-pb 6y ago
    Like I said. The phytoplankton of that time, is not the same phytoplancton we have today. There are evolutionary drivers that push lifeforms towards efficiency. A thick, protein rich, acid resistant shell is much more expensive, than a thin, calcium rich one. Well... until the day a new outlier species comes along and turns back the clock by 3 million years, in 100. To put that into perspective, it's like asking you on vacation to the bahamas giving 7 days to pack your stuff, and when the time to leave arrives I yell: "Surprise! We're actually going to siberia, time to pack your winter coat, the plane leaves in 20 SECONDS!"