A study by IIT Kharagpur, Calcutta University, and the University of Western Ontario suggests that tropical rainforests (TRFs) like the Amazon and Western Ghats can endure future global warming. By analyzing 56-million-year-old sediments from Gujarat’s Vastan coal mines, the team uncovered how TRFs thrived during Earth’s most intense warming period, the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM).

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• IIT Kharagpur-led team studied TRF sediments from Gujarat’s Vastan mines.
• Sediments date back to the PETM, 56 million years ago, Earth’s fastest warming phase.
• PETM saw CO2 levels exceed 1000 ppmv, akin to projections for future warming.
• Fossils reveal dense TRFs with diverse plants like Sal, Mahogany, and mangroves.
• Evidence includes fossils of early mammals, snakes, and insects from PETM forests.
• Advanced isotope analysis showed extreme heat (>40°C) during early PETM.
• Later PETM period recorded a temperature drop to ~30°C, akin to today’s climate.
• TRFs not only survived but also diversified during and after the PETM.
• Study highlights TRFs’ resilience to extreme CO2 and warming scenarios.
• Findings offer hope for modern rainforests amid climate change.