Hot Temps, Smaller Animals?

A scientist who has been studying the effects of a period of global warming that took place millions of years ago says there could be similar effects going on now. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:

Transcript

A scientist who has been studying the effects of a period of global
warming that took place millions of years ago says there could be similar
effects going on now. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton
reports:


University of Michigan Paleontologist Philip Gingerich has been studying
fossils of mammals that lived 55 million years ago. During that time, there
was a period of global warming that lasted 80 thousand years. The mammals
became much smaller when it was warm, and returned to their normal size
when the environment cooled. Gingerich says he thinks the animals adapted
to eating less nutritious plants. He says it’s not too soon to
start looking for similar changes because of today’s increasing
temperatures.


“So where it will lead, we don’t know. We don’t know if it will have
the same consequences. I mean, if it did, we might be three feet tall in
the future or something.”


Gingerich points out that the earth did not have polar ice caps 55 million
years ago. So another global warming could be more devastating this time
around, especially for the millions of people living at sea level.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tracy Samilton.