Back in the times when 25-meter-long ocean dinosaurs swam the seas and the T-Rex and Triceratops roamed the ground we walk today, Earth was a hot place to live. Very hot. During this Mesozoic Era — from about 250 to 66 million years ago — the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere were around 16 times higher than now, creating a "greenhouse climate” with temperatures on average six to nine degrees warmer than today. Scientists assume that methane from dinosaurs burping and farting — similar to cows today — contributed to global warming at the time. But the main reason was that the supercontinent of Pangaea was slowly starting to drift and break apart. Not only did this ultimately lead to the creation of the continents as we know them today, but it also led to a changing climate.
