Today’s interesting fact has to do with carbon dioxide.

About 55 million years ago, the temperature of the earth rose six degrees over a period of about 20,000 years.

It seems that the increase took place because of an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

They have identified what produced the increase, and they estimate the temperature change was caused by an increase of 2 gigatons of CO2 a year over the normal release amounts during that period.

Compare that with modern days, when we are releasing 25 gigatons of CO2 a year.

This release 55 million years ago was important to us.

There was a minor extinction event, some say very minor, which killed off many larger mammal species.

But it did allow the evolution of monkeys, apes and hominids, which lead eventually to us.

It makes me wonder what our additions to our atmosphere will allow to evolve in the future.