Nearly 200 million years before an asteroid impact ended dinosaurs’ dominion over Earth and completely extinguished them (except for birds), there was another, much deadlier extinction event that involved 100,000 metric tons of CO2.
Indeed, the Permian-Triassic extinction, also known as the Great Dying, might sound like something straight out of Star Trek, but it was a very real and extremely devastating event, the deadliest in Earth’s history, according to a press release on March 11.
What happened during the deadliest extinction event?
Specifically, 252 million years ago, our planet was consumed by extreme environmental chaos that involved gigantic volcanic eruptions spewing forth 100,000 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. Dramatic global warming ensued, oceans were deprived of oxygen, and the planet’s carbon cycle was completely destabilized.
During this deadliest extinction event on Earth, 96% of marine life and 70% of terrestrial vertebrates disappeared into oblivion, although some plant species survived, as discovered by researchers led by Dr. Maura Brunetti at the University of Geneva.
As it happens, Dr. Brunetti’s team studied fossilized plant remains, using spores, pollen, and macrofossils to reconstruct ancient ecosystems. Surprisingly, they learned that there was a 10-degree Celsius (50°F) jump in global temperatures at the time. According to Brunetti:
“While fossilized spores and pollen of plants from the Early Triassic do not provide strong evidence for a sudden and catastrophic biodiversity loss, both marine and terrestrial animals experienced the most severe mass extinction in Earth’s history.”
Furthermore, she added that “life on Earth had to adjust to repeated changes in climate and the carbon cycle for several million years after the Permian-Triassic Boundary.”
Following the event, a major shift took place in plant biomes. The late Permian was cold, the early Triassic witnessed a chaotic climate, and the later Triassic – the Olenekian and Anisian – led to stabilization at temperatures 10 degrees Celsius higher than before.
Per the study, tropical deserts became rich forests and temperate vegetation pushed toward the poles, eliminating tundra. As Brunetti explained:
“Tropical everwet and summerwet biomes emerged in the tropics, replacing predominantly desertic landscapes. Meanwhile, the warm-cool temperate biome shifted towards polar regions, leading to the complete disappearance of tundra ecosystems.”
Another mass extinction in 2,700 years?
Thanks to the study’s conclusions, scientists have gained a potential framework for understanding tipping behavior in the climate system in response to the present-day CO2 increase. Per Brunetti, if the increase continues at the same rate, we might reach the level that caused the Permian-Triassic mass extinction in around 2,700 years.
Elsewhere, we may not have to worry about humanity being able to live on Earth for much longer, as the Center of Space Exploration (COSE) in China is working on developing ‘extraterrestrial planet cave bases’ for humans in space, which will primarily serve as the foundation for Lunar and Martian survival bases.
Meanwhile, researchers in the United Kingdom have discovered hundreds of dinosaur footprints in the Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, making it the country’s largest discovery of dinosaur prints so far and one of the most important findings, dating back to around 166 million years ago.
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