The escape of carbon dioxide could have led to the rise of human civilization

A leak in the biological pump may have caused an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels thousands of years ago, leading to a warm period conducive to human civilization.

The team of researchers discovered that the significant rise in water in the Antarctic Ocean is responsible for the release of carbon dioxide into the air, thereby warming the planet and stabilizing the planet for humans to begin building their empires 11,000 years ago

. new overview of the study of climate change and its effects on ocean circulation and prediction of carbon dioxide levels of the atmosphere.

The Southern Ocean leaks CO2 into the air

for carbon dioxide. However, a team of geologists from Princeton University and the Max Planck Institute in Mainz, Germany discovered that parts of the ocean are leaking carbon dioxide into the atmosphere [19659004]. This led to the rise of human civilizations but did not provide direct evidence for them.

In a new article published in Nature Geoscience researchers led by Princeton professor of geological and geophysical science Daniel Sigman say that activity in the depths of the southernmost ocean of world may have given rise to civilization.

Researchers say that when the cold, deep waters of the Antarctic Ocean rise to the surface, this creates a leak in the biological pump. more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This caused a warmer and more stable climate during the Holocene, a geological period that took place 10,000 years ago until the Industrial Revolution

"This process allows some of that deeply stored carbon dioxide to return to the atmosphere ". Sigman said. "We are basically punch holes in the membrane of the biological pump."

What makes the Holocene period stable

Phytoplankton growing in the oceans and flowing downwards pumps carbon dioxide into deeper waters. Scientists call this the biological pump, which is the most important in the oceans at low latitudes.

However, closer to the poles, the biological pump weakens. In the Southern Ocean, the pump has a huge leak that has released significant amounts of carbon dioxide into the air during the Holocene.

Experts have long known that the Holocene was critical for human civilization. The period is one of the few interglacials, an interval between the ice ages that occurred over the last million years.

Unlike other interglacials, however, the Holocene was unusually stable. Glaciers have retreated, creating a vast expanse of land for settlements to form. The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide has also enriched agriculture, allowing humans to leave their hunter-gatherer lifestyle and living in more permanent areas.

Carbon dioxide levels during the Holocene increased from 20 to 260 ppm. In comparison, the current level of atmospheric carbon dioxide is 400 ppm, an excessive increase attributed to the burning of fossil fuels.

It is unclear what caused upwelling in the Southern Ocean, but the researchers believe that it could have been caused by changes in the winds blowing eastward. surrounding Antarctica.

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