Humans evolved to live on an icy planet. Earth is usually much hotter

illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Washington Post or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: Earth is in a rare "icehouse" phase, a period with significant ice coverage that has shaped human evolution
• Historically, the planet has been much hotter, with ice present only 13% of the last 485 million years
• Scientists warn that as humans rapidly increase carbon dioxide levels, Earth could transition back to a much warmer, iceless state

🔭 The context: Icehouse periods occur when carbon dioxide levels drop, often due to a combination of factors like volcanic activity, mountain formation, and tectonic shifts
• The last icehouse phase began 34 million years ago, providing conditions that may have contributed to human adaptability
• However, human-driven carbon emissions are pushing the climate into uncharted territory at an unprecedented rate

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: While Earth has survived major climate swings, rapid warming threatens global ecosystems and human civilization
• Scientists note that past mass extinctions often coincided with extreme temperature shifts
• Unlike natural changes that took thousands or millions of years, today’s warming is happening within a century, leaving little time for adaptation

⏭️ What's next: Humans have become the dominant force shaping the planet, emitting carbon at 100 times the rate of past volcanic activity
• Scientists argue that just as humans are accelerating warming, they also have the power to mitigate it by reducing emissions and removing carbon from the atmosphere
• The question remains whether humanity will act in time to avoid catastrophic consequences

💬 One quote: "Earth will be fine from global warming. It has mechanisms to absorb and adjust to the carbon dioxide. The problem is life." — Jessica Tierney, paleoclimatologist

📈 One stat: Carbon dioxide emissions from human activity today are 100 times greater than volcanic emissions during Earth’s past warmest periods

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