'Global Warming Was 'More Common 50m Yrs Ago'

A team, led by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, said that releases of carbon dioxide sequestered in the deep oceans were the most likely trigger of these ancient 'hyperthermal' events.

The hyperthermals took place roughly every 400,000 years during a warm period of Earth's history that prevailed some 50 million years ago and lasted about 40,000 years before temperatures returned to normal.

The majority of these hyperthermals increased average global temperatures by 3.6 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Read the full report here.

Source: Times of India, London.