If all the carbon stored in fossil fuels was once in the atmosphere, should the planet then have been too warm to sustain life?

Question

If all the carbon stored in fossil fuels was once in the atmosphere, should the planet then have been too warm to sustain life?

In: Planetary Science

Answer 1

It was once in the atmosphere, **but not all at once**. The carbon that forms coal and petroleum were pulled from the atmosphere over millions of years, but are being put back in time measured in centuries.

Analogy is saving money for 50 years, then using it all in an orgry of spending in one day. Yes you once had all that money, but not at the same time. The effects of that short term spending could be very high,