The earth was born 4.6 billion years ago, and primitive simple life evolved 3.8 billion years ago. Although life was born on the earth earlier, the time when it truly ushered in the explosion of life was relatively late. The Cambrian life explosion only ushered in about 500 million years ago, and a large number of advanced and complex lives continued to appear.
The arrival of the Cambrian life explosion accelerated the evolution of life on earth, but it also ushered in the cruel test of nature. I believe many friends know that nearly 500 million years ago, the earth experienced five mass extinctions. Each time, more than 80% of the organisms were extinct, and the most serious one reached 96%, almost restarting the age of life on earth.
The most serious mass extinction occurred 230 million years ago. Why is this disaster so serious that it almost brought life to an end? In fact, the main reason is that at that time, the earth had experienced rainfall for up to millions of years, and some scientists estimated that the time was up to 2 million years. The prehistoric heavy rainfall is also called the Carnian flood event.
Some friends may have said, how do scientists know that a million-year rainfall occurred 230 million years ago? In fact, it is mainly a conclusion drawn through geological exploration and research. We all know what major geological activities have taken place in the history of the earth. There are often traces left on geological structures and rocks. This trace is difficult to disappear even if hundreds of millions of years have passed.
Scientists discovered through a special kind of sedimentary rock that a major ecological looting occurred on the earth 230 million years ago. I believe many friends know that 230 million years ago was in the Triassic period. At that time, the land was not divided into six blocks, but it was still a whole. We call it the Pangea continent.
Pangea is surrounded by pan-oceans. Because the entire plate is a whole, the warm air from the ocean cannot penetrate deep into the inland, causing most of the land to be hot and dry. The special climate of the Triassic has left a unique trace-sandstone, which is a kind of sedimentary rock. Sand and gravel particles are continuously deposited on the river bed, or weathered rock is deposited in the basin, and formed after a long period of accumulation and geological movement.
This kind of special sedimentary rock can prove that in the remote Triassic period, the earth experienced a long rainfall climate. The average temperature of that period reached 4 degrees Celsius. Such high temperature brought a lot of precipitation, and the whole continent continued. An excessively humid climate for more than 1 million years.
Of course, in the Carnian period, it does not mean that it rains every day and every moment. The rainfall that lasts for millions of years is intermittent, but the rainfall in that period is particularly heavy, in 1 million years. Here, the average annual rainfall can reach 1,400 mm. Such rainfall can trigger a flood in a short period of time in modern times, not to mention that it lasted for more than 1 million years in the Carnian period. It is conceivable how significant the ecological impact is.
So how did this rain that lasted for millions of years caused it? The reason why a long rainy climate occurred during the Carnian period was mainly because the average temperature of the earth rose by 4 degrees Celsius at that time, which caused the water in the ocean to evaporate into the atmosphere continuously, forming a very active and continuous water vapor cycle.
So what happened at that time, the average temperature of the earth would rise by 4 degrees Celsius? According to the research of scientists, it is believed to be caused by a volcanic eruption. According to scientists’ research on various important volcanoes on the earth, the Langoria volcano had an eruption 230 million years ago, and it has been active for up to 5 million years.
Continuously active volcanic eruptions have caused a large amount of carbon dioxide to be emitted into the atmosphere, which gradually intensified the greenhouse effect. Finally, quantitative changes caused qualitative changes, the earth’s ecosystem was out of control, and long global rainfall was triggered. This millions of years of rainfall was a huge disaster for the terrestrial organisms at that time. We must know that the organisms at that time were all adapted to the dry and hot climate of the land.
However, it is not adapted to the humid climate, not to mention the rainy climate that lasts for millions of years. A large number of terrestrial organisms cannot adapt to this climate and become extinct. Even marine organisms cannot be avoided, and a large number of extinctions have also occurred. In this disaster of heavy rainfall, most of the creatures were extinct and disappeared, but there was one creature that was fully adapted to this climate and rose homeopathically. This creature was the dinosaur that later dominated the earth for 160 million years.
Dinosaurs became the biggest winner in this catastrophe, from 5% of the ecosystem before the Carnian period to 90% after the Carnian period. Through this understanding, we understand that it is the excessive emission of a large amount of carbon dioxide that has caused the earth’s temperature to continue to rise, and finally led to the loss of control of the ecosystem, triggering this long-lasting global rain.
Through this understanding, scientists are full of worries about the future of the number of people. It is important to know that although the current earth does not have large-scale volcanic eruptions, the number of industrial activities continues to emit a large amount of carbon dioxide. According to the research of scientists, the average temperature of the earth It rises by 1 degree Celsius before and after industry.
If industrial activities continue to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and we have no effective means to remove the carbon dioxide, then in the limited future, the carbon dioxide content of the earth’s atmosphere may also reach the scale of 230 million years ago. At that time, the Carnian flood event may re-enact, and the earth will once again usher in long global rains.
Although the number of people may hopefully survive the long rainfall with the help of technology, for most living things on the earth, a new mass extinction will usher in. The baptized earth ecology will also undergo tremendous changes. Even if the number of people can survive in the future, the road to the future will become very difficult.
It can be seen that the terrible consequences of rising global temperatures are far more serious than we think. Perhaps in many people’s eyes, rising global temperatures are nothing more than melting glaciers and rising sea levels. There are other more serious consequences. However, the Carnian flood event tells us that once the average temperature of the earth rises to 4 degrees Celsius, then a terrible rainfall may occur, and that is the real end.