Recreating the largest extinction event in Earth’s history

Recreating the largest extinction event in Earth’s history Last week, we discussed how ozone depletion was a primary contributor to the biggest mass extinction ever on Earth 252 million years ago.

Today’s Video of the Day comes from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, who set out to recreate this extinction event in the lab.

According to Experimental Paleobiologist Jeff Banca, “We don’t know what caused the extinction event, and scientists have treated it like a massive murder mystery.” The five major extinction events are: Ordovician–Silurian mass extinction. Late Devonian mass extinction. Permian–Triassic mass extinction. Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction. Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction.

The previous five mass extinctions happened well before mankind walked the Earth, and are believed to have been mainly caused by natural disasters, such as asteroid impacts and volcanic eruptions. The last mass extinction happened some 65 million years ago, killing off the dinosaurs. Some of the biggest causes of mass extinctions include: Ocean/atmosphere chemistry Climate change Volcanic activity Meteor/asteroid impacts.  Recreating the largest extinction event in Earth’s history as seen above on video shows The last mass extinction happened some 65 million years ago, killing off the dinosaurs. Overall, each mass extinction event has rid the planet of up to 96% of its species each time.

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By Rory Arnold, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: Roxanne Makasdjian and Stephen McNally, University of California, Berkeley