The world's first animals have caused global warming, says new study

The evolution of the Earth's first animals more than 500 million years ago caused global warming, according to a study. The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, discovered that 520-540 million years ago, animal life evolved in the ocean and began to break down organic matter on the seabed, resulting in more carbon dioxide and less oxygen in the atmosphere. In the next 100 million years, the conditions for these early animals became harder as ocean oxygen levels dropped and carbon dioxide caused global warming , the researchers said. "Like worms in a garden, tiny creatures on the seabed disrupt, mix and recycle dead organic matter – a process known as bioturbation," said Tim Lenton, a professor at the University of Toronto. Exeter in the United Kingdom. If the burrows are so big, we would expect to see big changes in the environment when the entire bottom of the ocean will go from an undisturbed state to a bioturbated one, "he said. said Mr. Lenton. "We have indeed seen a decrease in oxygen levels in the ocean about 520 million years ago," added Professor Filip Meysman, of the University of New York. Antwerp in Belgium. "But the evidence of the rock showed that the sediments were only a little disturbed," Meysman said. "The critical factor was to realize that the greatest changes occur at the lowest levels of animal activity, which means that early bioturbators had one," said Sebastiaan van de Velde, of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel The researchers said that this achievement was the "missing piece of the puzzle", and allowed them to build a mathematical model of the Earth around this period to look at the changes caused by these early life forms. 19659002] We were surprised by what we saw, "said Benjamin Mills, of the University of Leeds in the UK. "The evolution of these small animals has actually decreased oxygen in the ocean and the atmosphere, but has also increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide to such an extent it has caused global warming, "said Mills. "We knew that the warming was happening at this point in the Earth's history, but he did not realize that he could be driven by animals," he said

. During the first 100 million years of animal evolution, the researchers said.