The last time carbon emissions were this high, dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

And if that isn't daunting enough, the human-driven release today is happening about 10 times faster than any event since that era, a new study has found.

Researchers analyzed the biological signatures of deep-sea sediment samples collected off the coast of New Jersey and found the current release of carbon into the atmosphere is "unprecedented during the past 66 million years ."

Candace Major, program director of the National Science Foundation 's Division of Ocean Sciences, which funded the research, said in a statement that the study of one of the most dramatic episodes of global change since the dinosaurs shows the world has entered uncharted territory