The smaller ones needed less food and less food was available. PETM was about ten times slower than what is happening now, and many more species had time to adapt. This "event" has more methane to "turn over", too. Anthropocene Epoch Thermal Maximum will occur in 300 to 1200 years with an extinction rate of ~87% from the amount of species present at the beginning of this interglacial. The recovery time will be greater than PETM, at least 200K years, with several million to regain biological diversity. I doubt if any humans will make it through this bottleneck. If the Yellowstone Super Volcano erupts significantly before AETM, it 'could' cancel out thermageddon. A nuclear winter could affect things, too. Disruption of the Gulf Stream also could affect Northern Hemisphere albedo, perhaps enough to stop it, too. It will assuredly be a harsher world for the survivors of the guaranteed population crash circa 2050 (2030s to 70s), and people will continue burning excessive amounts of fossil fuels until then. Tundra methane self release is probably already happening and accelerating.
_________________ "With every decision, think seven generations ahead of the consequences of your actions" Ute rule of life. “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”― Chief Seattle “Those Who Have the Privilege to Know Have the Duty to Act”…Albert Einstein
|