Carnian Pluvial Episode
The Carnian pluvial episode (CPE), often called the Carnian pluvial event, was an interval of major change in global climate synchronous with significant changes in Earth's biota both in the sea and on land. It occurred during the latter part of the Carnian Stage of the late Triassic period over an interval of perhaps 1-2 million years (approximately 234-232 million years ago), across the boundary between the Julian and Tuvalian substages of the Carnian. It represents a significant episode in the evolution and diversification of many taxa that are important today, among them some of the earliest dinosaurs (which include the ancestors of birds), lepidosaurs (ancestors of modern-day snakes and lizards), pterosaurs and true mammals. In the marine realm it saw the first appearance among the microplankton of coccoliths and dinoflagellates , with the latter linked to the rapid diversification of scleractinian corals through the establishment of symbiotic zooxanthellae. The CPE also saw ...
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Climate Change (general Concept)
Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or more. ''Climate change'' may refer to any time in Earth's history, but the term i