Earth is a magnificent and complex planet. But, don't underestimate the potency of human impact on it.
To date, the production of carbon dioxide by humans has not abated. The rising temperatures of Earth and it's oceans have not abated. What makes anyone believe there will be a reversal of that trend? The historical record? That is null and void. This is a unique event on Earth. There has never been this type of consumerism or population before on this planet. Never.
The historical record is interesting from one perspective. That it is record setting.
Carbon dioxide level highest in 650,000 years (click on)
...Analysis of carbon dioxide in the ancient Antarctic ice showed that at no point in the past 650,000 years did levels approach today's carbon dioxide concentrations of around 380 parts per million (ppm). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could reach 450-550 ppm by 2050, possibly resulting in higher temperatures and rising sea levels (see "Ocean levels rising twice as fast"). There is fear that climate change could create a class of environmental refugees displaced from their homes by rising oceans, increasingly catastrophic weather, and expanding deserts.
THE SADDEST REALITY that is revealed in the historical record is the fact that humans, as they exist today, have only existed on Earth a very short time.
The First Humans (click on)
Of all the continents Africa was probably the first to be home to humankind. In his book The Descent Of Man (1871), the famous naturalist, Charles Darwin, called Africa “the cradle of humankind.” Darwin made this comment to support his theory of evolution in Origin of the Species, which he published in 1859. Since then research in eastern and southern Africa shows our ancient ancestors lived as far back as 5 to 10 million years ago.
AND OF THAT 5 to 10 million years ago, Homo sapiens have only existed in the past 200,000 years. The current state of human has never experienced the high levels of carbon dioxide reported at a high of 650,000 years ago.
Homo sapiens: Earliest forms of our own species (click on)
"The surviving physical evidence, from skulls such as these, suggests that the transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens, the earliest forms of our own species, occurred approximately 300,000 to 400,000 years ago."
