Uploaded December 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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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: youtu.be/FQcaddtnFqg
--- Inside the Whale Warehouse!: youtu.be/au4j36pQfVY

This video about the carbon cycle from the NMNH is incredibly informative: youtu.be/lWEvBLlUa2E
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"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. bit.ly/2Cojusw
"Wyoming paleontology dispatch #1: Why 56 million years ago?" Smithsonian Magazine. bit.ly/2UQZ9mS
"This ancient climate catastrophe is our best clue about Earth's future," Washington Post. https://wapo.st/2EB1GvE
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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.

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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

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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.
fieldmuseum.org
https://naturalhistory.si.edu/