What happened 250 million years ago?
Conditions in this “post-apocalyptic greenhouse” were so severe that only one large land animal species survived, and it took 100 million years for species diversity to return to former levels, according to Bristol University’s head of earth sciences, Professor Michael Benton. What else could happen? The worst possible situation forecast by scientists is the “runaway greenhouse effect”, which would see all the factors that cause global warming eventually overriding the factors that work against it. Rising temperatures would see rising sea levels as polar ice sheets melt. There are also fears that the Arctic tundra would begin to melt. Organic matter stored in the ice would be oxidised, which could release huge amounts of carbon dioxide and methane. The melting of the Arctic ice cap would also reduce the amount of solar radiation the planet reflects, allowing more heat to be trapped. But provided we avoid the worst, we will have better weather, won’t we? Global warming does not mean nor
