Sources:
Röhl, Ursula, et al. "On the duration of the Paleocene‐Eocene thermal maximum (PETM)." Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 8.12 (2007).
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2007GC001784
Turner, Sandra Kirtland. "Constraints on the onset duration of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 376.2130 (2018): 20170082.
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsta.2017.0082
Zachos, James C., et al. "Rapid acidification of the ocean during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum." science 308.5728 (2005): 1611-1615.
https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1109004
- When ocean water absorbs CO2 it becomes acidic
- At the peak of this event 1.7 billion metric tons were being released into the atmosphere each year for at least 4,000 years; currently 9.8 billion metric tons are released per year.
- The first primates appeared during this time.
- Forams and coral reefs disappeared due to ocean acidification, as acidification causes a decrease in carbonates (components necessary for the creation of shells and other types of marine structures).
This was a time of global warming, which caused the Arctic to become a forest; it's believed that this warming was caused by the massive release of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases into the atmosphere (it's proposed that this CO2 and other gases came from plants or volcanic activity). However it happened, this caused the entire planet to flourish, with lush rainforests, mammals, reptiles, insects and all kinds of plants. Although this event was very positive for many species that lived on land, it also harmed others that lived in the oceans; high temperatures harmed plankton, which was one of the most important food webs in the oceans.
Paleocene - Eocene Thermal Maximum
Petm
This event lasted about 200,000 years and happened at the end of the Paleocene Epoch which occurred about 66 to 56 million years ago.
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