this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023
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This is not the first time.
Antarctica has had a huge variety of life in the past during warm periods.
No, earth is doing what it has always done. Responding to change during an extinction event. Life has caused an extinction event in the past during the great oxygenation event. The only difference this time is that the life-form causing the extinction event (humans) are aware of what is happening.
I am not happy about any of this, it is a tragedy caused by humans.
But the earth will recover in time, geological time. Life on earth will continue. It just won't be the same species that were here before. Whether humans make it through all this is uncertain. The cyanobacteria that caused the oxygenation still exist but only in tiny numbers compared to when they also dominated the planet.
You’re severely downplaying (not even mentioning) the unprecedented by an order of magnitudes speed at which we’ve bought about the end of this epoch.
Nothing about this is natural or cyclical.
The planet has survived sudden and dramatic climate shifts before.
For example, the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs caused years or decades of impact winter. The planet survived fine. The non-avian dinosaurs didn't, but the planet did.
That comment isn't saying that what's going on now is a normal cycle, but rather the natural response to a non-normal event.