60,000 years ago the largest mass extinction in the history of animal life happened. This annihilation wiped out 96 percent of sea life and 70 percent of land life. This was called end-Permian. Researchers have figured out that this happened almost ten times faster than previously.
No one really knows what happened, but there are some theories. One is that an astroid hit Earth. Another is that there was a huge eruption of many volcanoes. Lastly, some think there was a "cataclysmic cascade of environmental events". None of these assumptions are 100 percent correct though.
Researchers were baffled, how could something wipe out 90 percent of sea life that had survived tens of thousands of years. They found out that 10,000 years before the extinction, a pulse of light carbon. It likely reflects a big amount of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere. This may have added a lot of acid to the ocean which might have raised the sea water temperature ten degrees Celsius or more. This would kill most of the marine life.
Overall, not much is known about this mass extinction and offers only a large number of questions.
Learn more at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140210161334.htm
No one really knows what happened, but there are some theories. One is that an astroid hit Earth. Another is that there was a huge eruption of many volcanoes. Lastly, some think there was a "cataclysmic cascade of environmental events". None of these assumptions are 100 percent correct though.
Researchers were baffled, how could something wipe out 90 percent of sea life that had survived tens of thousands of years. They found out that 10,000 years before the extinction, a pulse of light carbon. It likely reflects a big amount of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere. This may have added a lot of acid to the ocean which might have raised the sea water temperature ten degrees Celsius or more. This would kill most of the marine life.
Overall, not much is known about this mass extinction and offers only a large number of questions.
Learn more at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140210161334.htm
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