mattnewport comments on The things we know that we know ain't so - Less Wrong

16 Post author: PhilGoetz 11 January 2010 09:59PM

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Comment author: roland 12 January 2010 10:29:21PM 0 points [-]

Ok, and how was life like at those times? There are parts of Australia today that are so hot that it is impossible for any human to survive there yet you will find plants and insects and maybe some animals there.

AFAIK temperatures above 90°F(33°C) may already be deadly for humans in poor health conditions.

Comment author: mattnewport 13 January 2010 12:02:53AM 2 points [-]

There was abundant plant and animal life under those conditions: 200 to 150 Ma is pretty much the Jurassic period and 400 to 600 Ma would have encompassed the Cambrian explosion. According to Wikipedia mean temperatures during the Jurassic period were about 3C and during the Cambrian about 7C above today's. Certainly nothing like Venus where surface temperatures are around 480C. Almost no known life could survive those temperatures, except perhaps some of the lifeforms found around black smokers.