--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Some 3 million years ago, when the earth…" description: "\"Some 3 million years ago, when the earth was a little more than 3°C warmer than preindustrial levels (about 2.2°C warmer than today), Antarctica had fa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/joseph-j-romm-17334_antarctica_some-3-million-years-ago-when-the-earth_2488571.jpg" --- # Some 3 million years ago, when the earth was a little more… ![“Some 3 million years ago, when the earth was a little more than 3°C warmer than preindustrial levels (about 2.2°C warmer than today), Antarctica had far less ice and sea levels were a stunning 25 meters higher than today. If we stay on our current emissions path, the planet will almost certainly…” quote by Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/joseph-j-romm-17334_antarctica_some-3-million-years-ago-when-the-earth_2488571.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/joseph-j-romm-17334_antarctica_some-3-million-years-ago-when-the-earth_2488571.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/joseph-j-romm-17334_antarctica_some-3-million-years-ago-when-the-earth_2488571.jpg) > “Some 3 million years ago, when the earth was a little more than 3°C warmer than preindustrial levels (about 2.2°C warmer than today), Antarctica had far less ice and sea levels were a stunning 25 meters higher than today. If we stay on our current emissions path, the planet will almost certainly be that warm by the century's end.” [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If emissions continue, Earth will warm to levels seen 3 million years ago, raising sea levels by 25 m, threatening coastal societies. **In simple terms:** Current emissions could cause massive sea‑level rise similar to ancient warm periods. Key Takeaway Reduce emissions to avoid catastrophic sea‑level rise. Themes climate change sea level rise historical analogues Mood urgent alarming Type environmental scientific When to use this quote - policy planning - infrastructure design - coastal relocation - public education Key Concepts carbon emissions global warming geological timescales Questions to Reflect On - What policies can cut emissions fastest? - How can societies adapt to rising seas? A Different Perspective Mitigation requires immediate, large‑scale action, not gradual steps. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Antarctica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antarctica/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Emissions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emissions/) [Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ice/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) ## Related quotes > [O how long ago the earth would have been destroyed, if Mary had not interposed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulgentius-of-cartagena/o-how-long-ago-the-earth-would-have-been-destroyed-if-mary-had-not/) Fulgentius of Cartagena > [ “…imagine that the earth—four thousand six hundred million years old—\[were\] a forty-six-year-old woman…. It had taken the whole of the Earth Woman’s life for… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/imagine-that-the-earth-four-thousand-six-hundred-million-years-old/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“Then to give the kids a historical perspective, Chacko told them about the earth woman. He made them imagine that the earth - 4600…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/then-to-give-the-kids-a-historical-perspective-chacko-told-them-about/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [The Earth has been lawned with life for something over 3.5 billion years. That's a span of time great enough to encompass some honest-to-goodness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/the-earth-has-been-lawned-with-life-for-something-over-3-5-billion/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [If Americans in 2100 came to see 12 meters sea-level rise as inevitable by 2200, who can even begin to fathom how the nation would respond?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/if-americans-in-2100-came-to-see-12-meters-sea-level-rise-as/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [How many people are moving up toward the Antarctica, or the Arctic? Most people move down to Texas and Florida, where it's a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-johnson/how-many-people-are-moving-up-toward-the-antarctica-or-the-arctic/) [Ron Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-johnson/) > [Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance and courage of my companions which would have stirred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-falcon-scott/had-we-lived-i-should-have-had-a-tale-to-tell-of-the-hardihood/) [Robert Falcon Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-falcon-scott/) > [The literature of the emperor penguin is as forbidding, as inaccessible, as the frozen heart of Antarctica itself. Its beauties may be unearthly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-literature-of-the-emperor-penguin-is-as-forbidding-as/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [The fact that the Antarctica is beginning to look more like it's part of the story, as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-schneider/the-fact-that-the-antarctica-is-beginning-to-look-more-like-it-s-part/) [Stephen Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-schneider/) > [...Was it because a lot of the heat went into melting Arctic sea ice or parts of Greenland and Antarctica, and other glaciers? Was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-e-trenberth/was-it-because-a-lot-of-the-heat-went-into-melting-arctic-sea-ice-or/) Kevin E. Trenberth > [Antarctica, one of the things that was so remarkable about it was that the ice itself is a kind of pure geometry, so say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dj-spooky/antarctica-one-of-the-things-that-was-so-remarkable-about-it-was-that/) [DJ Spooky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dj-spooky/) > [“Then he opened the Bible Queen Alexandra had given them and ripped out the flyleaf and the page containing the Twenty-third Psalm. He also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lansing/then-he-opened-the-bible-queen-alexandra-had-given-them-and-ripped/) [Alfred Lansing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lansing/) > [“A forbidding-looking place, certainly, but that only made it seem the more pitiful. It was the refuge of twenty-two men who, at that very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lansing/a-forbidding-looking-place-certainly-but-that-only-made-it-seem-the/) [Alfred Lansing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lansing/) > [At a time when it's possible for thirty people to stand on the top of Everest in one day, Antarctica still remains a remote,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/at-a-time-when-it-s-possible-for-thirty-people-to-stand-on-the-top-of/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [If Antarctica were music it would be Mozart. Art, and it would be Michelangelo. Literature, and it would be Shakespeare. And yet it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-denton/if-antarctica-were-music-it-would-be-mozart-art-and-it-would-be/) [Andrew Denton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-denton/) ## More by Joseph J. Romm > [Protecting dozens of major coastal cities from future flooding will be challenging enough-rebuilding major coastal cities destroyed by super-hurricanes will be an almost impossible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/protecting-dozens-of-major-coastal-cities-from-future-flooding-will/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [If the politics of inaction and delay that have triumphed in this country continues for another decade, then Planetary Purgatory in the likely future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/if-the-politics-of-inaction-and-delay-that-have-triumphed-in-this/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [Much of the scientific community has been astonished that their increasingly strong and detailed warnings have been either ignored or attacked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/much-of-the-scientific-community-has-been-astonished-that-their/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [As long as a handful of U.S. scientists, most receiving funds from the fossil fuel industry, get equal time with hundreds of the world's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/as-long-as-a-handful-of-u-s-scientists-most-receiving-funds-from-the/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [Would PBS go so far as to give air time to an even more extreme kind of disinformer, a Holocaust denier?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/would-pbs-go-so-far-as-to-give-air-time-to-an-even-more-extreme-kind/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [Since 1955 the oceans have absorbed roughly twenty times more heat than the atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/since-1955-the-oceans-have-absorbed-roughly-twenty-times-more-heat/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [The first few feet of sea-level rise alone will displace more than 100 million people worldwide and turn all our major Gulf and Atlantic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/the-first-few-feet-of-sea-level-rise-alone-will-displace-more-than/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [You must become a climate champion, a single-issue voter. You must take whatever action you can. You must use whatever influence you have wherever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/you-must-become-a-climate-champion-a-single-issue-voter-you-must-take/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [Conservatives... are so opposed to government regulations that they are skeptical of anyone who identifies a problem that requires regulatory solutions - and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/conservatives-are-so-opposed-to-government-regulations-that-they-are/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [On our current path, all our great Gulf and Atlantic coast cities are at risk of meeting the same fate as New Orleans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/on-our-current-path-all-our-great-gulf-and-atlantic-coast-cities-are/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [Time is short. We have at most a decade to sharply reverse course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/time-is-short-we-have-at-most-a-decade-to-sharply-reverse-course/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [The best thing about improvements in health care is that all the climate-change deniers are now going to live long enough to see how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/the-best-thing-about-improvements-in-health-care-is-that-all-the/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [I've always believed that you should stick as closely to the science as possible. And my biggest advice to reporters has been, if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/i-ve-always-believed-that-you-should-stick-as-closely-to-the-science/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [On moral grounds, I think that if you believe a certain outcome is a very possible outcome, you have an obligation to tell people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/on-moral-grounds-i-think-that-if-you-believe-a-certain-outcome-is-a/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [Conservative Denyers and Delayers are the main reason America lacks the consensus and the political will to take up the fight against catastrophic climate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/conservative-denyers-and-delayers-are-the-main-reason-america-lacks/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) [Explore all 37 Joseph J. Romm quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) ## More Antarctica quotes > [If Antarctica were music it would be Mozart. Art, and it would be Michelangelo. Literature, and it would be Shakespeare. And yet it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-denton/if-antarctica-were-music-it-would-be-mozart-art-and-it-would-be/) [Andrew Denton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-denton/) > [At a time when it's possible for thirty people to stand on the top of Everest in one day, Antarctica still remains a remote,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/at-a-time-when-it-s-possible-for-thirty-people-to-stand-on-the-top-of/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [“A forbidding-looking place, certainly, but that only made it seem the more pitiful. It was the refuge of twenty-two men who, at that very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lansing/a-forbidding-looking-place-certainly-but-that-only-made-it-seem-the/) [Alfred Lansing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lansing/) > [“Then he opened the Bible Queen Alexandra had given them and ripped out the flyleaf and the page containing the Twenty-third Psalm. He also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lansing/then-he-opened-the-bible-queen-alexandra-had-given-them-and-ripped/) [Alfred Lansing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lansing/) > [Antarctica, one of the things that was so remarkable about it was that the ice itself is a kind of pure geometry, so say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dj-spooky/antarctica-one-of-the-things-that-was-so-remarkable-about-it-was-that/) [DJ Spooky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dj-spooky/) > [...Was it because a lot of the heat went into melting Arctic sea ice or parts of Greenland and Antarctica, and other glaciers? Was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-e-trenberth/was-it-because-a-lot-of-the-heat-went-into-melting-arctic-sea-ice-or/) Kevin E. Trenberth > [The fact that the Antarctica is beginning to look more like it's part of the story, as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-schneider/the-fact-that-the-antarctica-is-beginning-to-look-more-like-it-s-part/) [Stephen Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-schneider/) > [The literature of the emperor penguin is as forbidding, as inaccessible, as the frozen heart of Antarctica itself. Its beauties may be unearthly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-literature-of-the-emperor-penguin-is-as-forbidding-as/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance and courage of my companions which would have stirred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-falcon-scott/had-we-lived-i-should-have-had-a-tale-to-tell-of-the-hardihood/) [Robert Falcon Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-falcon-scott/) > [How many people are moving up toward the Antarctica, or the Arctic? Most people move down to Texas and Florida, where it's a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-johnson/how-many-people-are-moving-up-toward-the-antarctica-or-the-arctic/) [Ron Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-johnson/) > [If he’d been any other man and i'd been any other girl, I’d have called the narrowing of his heavy-lidded dark eyes lust. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/if-he-d-been-any-other-man-and-i-d-been-any-other-girl-i-d-have/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“We were quiet for a while, and then I said, "I think my favorite part of Antarctica is just looking out." You know why?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/we-were-quiet-for-a-while-and-then-i-said-i-think-my-favorite-part-of/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) > [Scientists say that Texas and Antarctica were connected at one time. In fact, early Mexicans used to go through Texas to try to sneak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/scientists-say-that-texas-and-antarctica-were-connected-at-one-time/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [More people should visit Antarctica, metaphorically speaking, on their own. That is one of the conclusions I have reached, one of my recommendations: explore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-rose/more-people-should-visit-antarctica-metaphorically-speaking-on-their/) [Phyllis Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-rose/) > [I'd love to go to Easter Island, Hawaii, Iceland and Antarctica.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kt-tunstall/i-d-love-to-go-to-easter-island-hawaii-iceland-and-antarctica/) [KT Tunstall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kt-tunstall/) [Browse all 94 Antarctica quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antarctica/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Some 3 million years ago, when the earth was a little more than 3°C warmer than preindustrial levels (about 2.2°C warmer than today), Antarctica had far less ice and sea levels were a stunning 25 meters higher than today. 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