<p>Earth's climate has changed in the past and will change in the future. It would have changed even if we didn't start spewing enormous amounts of CO<sub>2</sub> to the atmosphere. The main difference here is the rate at which this is happening. Natural climate change unfolds over thousands or tens of thousands of years (btw - PETM was fairly rapid, but we don't know exactly how rapid). Current climate change happens much faster. You can see temperature records broken <em>every single year</em>.</p>

<p>Our modern civilisation developed in a fairly stable climate. We did not develop in a climate where we had ice-free poles, or higher sea levels. The geopolitical consequences of altering that too fast would be simply too much.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-28T07:16:43.923Z
2018-07-28T07:16:43.923Z
Gimelist
<p>Climate change is now one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, but it seems that we have been here before; if we look at the world's climate over a much longer period than 150 years. </p>

<p>During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum which occurred 50m years ago, the poles were ice-free tropical regions, with very high carbon levels, and temperature increases of as much as 5 degrees.</p>

<p>I am just wondering if what we are currently seeing was going to happen anyway? Has the discovery of oil, and the resultant human activity just accelerated an already inevitable outcome?</p>

<climate-change>
Was climate change inevitable anyway, or is there more to it?
eeijlar
# Was climate change inevitable anyway, or is there more to it?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-27)

Climate change is now one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, but it seems that we have been here before; if we look at the world's climate over a much longer period than 150 years.

During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum which occurred 50m years ago, the poles were ice-free tropical regions, with very high carbon levels, and temperature increases of as much as 5 degrees.

I am just wondering if what we are currently seeing was going to happen anyway? Has the discovery of oil, and the resultant human activity just accelerated an already inevitable outcome?

**Tags:** climate-change


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-07-28. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

Earth's climate has changed in the past and will change in the future. It would have changed even if we didn't start spewing enormous amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere. The main difference here is the rate at which this is happening. Natural climate change unfolds over thousands or tens of thousands of years (btw - PETM was fairly rapid, but we don't know exactly how rapid). Current climate change happens much faster. You can see temperature records broken *every single year*.

Our modern civilisation developed in a fairly stable climate. We did not develop in a climate where we had ice-free poles, or higher sea levels. The geopolitical consequences of altering that too fast would be simply too much.


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