Core Insights - The research reveals a significant global warming event that occurred 56 million years ago, known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which was triggered by a rapid release of carbon dioxide [1][2] - The study highlights a precursor event, a carbon isotope negative anomaly (POE), which served as a warning signal before the PETM, indicating a complex relationship between these two events [1][2] Group 1: Research Findings - The research team utilized sedimentary layers from the Kuzi Gongsu profile in Xinjiang, China, to analyze historical climate data, confirming the synchronous nature of the POE on a global scale [2] - The POE event lasted a shorter duration with a minor carbon isotope negative shift of approximately 1‰ to 2‰, leading to slight warming, shallow marine acidification, and changes in microbial communities [2] - During the POE, the carbon emission rate was about 1 billion tons per year, comparable to the fossil fuel emissions of the 1960s, resulting in a 40% increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration over a century to a millennium [2] Group 2: Implications for Current Climate - The historical analysis serves as a natural experiment demonstrating the consequences of rapid carbon release, with a warning that current human activities are accelerating CO2 emissions at an even faster rate [3] - The research emphasizes the urgency of reducing carbon emissions before reaching a critical threshold that could lead to catastrophic climate events similar to the PETM [3]