Dr. Scott Wing spent a decade combing the hills in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming to find fossil evidence of the PETM, or Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. It was an extinction event that occurred in the Southern Ocean of Antarctica, 56 million years ago. Here, we talk with him and Dr. Kirk Johnson about how studying the fossil record helps us better understand current impacts of human-caused climate change on our planet, and what it means for our future world. More Brain Scoop from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History: --- The Wonderful World of Worms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQcaddtnFqg --- Inside the Whale Warehouse!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au4j36pQfVY This video about the carbon cycle from the NMNH is incredibly informative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWEvBLlUa2E ---------------------------------------­---------------------------- "Smithsonian's New Fossil Hall to Open June 8, 2019": https://s.si.edu/2rNeN5E "Ancient Earth warmed dramatically after a one-two carbon punch," Smithsonian Magazine. http://bit.ly/2Cojusw "Wyoming paleontology dispatch #1: Why 56 million years ago?" Smithsonian Magazine. http://bit.ly/2UQZ9mS "This ancient climate catastrophe is our best clue about Earth's future," Washington Post. https://wapo.st/2EB1GvE ---------------------------------------­---------------------------- This video is brought to you through a collaboration with the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and the Field Museum, in Chicago, IL. ---------------------------------------­---------------------------- Come hang out in our Subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/thebrainscoop/ Instagram.com/egraslie Twitters: @ehmee Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thebrainscoop Tumblr: thebrainscoop.tumblr.com We have a Newsletter! Sign up for updates!: http://bit.ly/2oYTY6p ---------------------------------------­---------------------------- Producer, Writer, Creator, Host: Emily Graslie Producer, Camera, Director, Editor: Sheheryar Ahsan Producer, Editor, Graphics: Brandon Brungard Camera: Katie Cleary Interview with: Dr. Kirk Johnson, Sant Director, NMNH Dr. Scott Wing, Curator of Plants, NMNH Special thanks: Jim Wood, Ryan Lavery, Anna Torres --------------------------------------­---------------------------- This episode is filmed on location at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. http://www.fieldmuseum.org/ https://naturalhistory.si.edu/