mass extinction, methane, new discoveries, volcanic eruptions, volcano

Methane Discovery Sheds New Light on World’s Largest Mass Extinction Event

Methane emissions created by volcanic activity burning buried fossil fuel deposits could have played a major role in the global warming that triggered the largest mass extinction event in Earth’s history, a new study suggests. The Late Permian Mass Extinction, also known as “the great dying,” happened around 260 million years ago, and wiped out ...

Troy Oakes

An erupting volcano.

Are the Earth’s Magnetic Poles Truly Flipping?

It appears the Earth’s magnetic poles are changing. At the beginning of March 2021, K2 Airlines pilot Kris Pam was flying over Murdoch Glacier and found that it was flowing, with a large number of newly formed cracks visible. It looked like the entire glacier was being torn apart. He was quite shocked and took ...

Armin Auctor

Photograph of the upper part of the Muldrow Glacier, with Denali in the background.

Mystery Solved: Ocean Acidity in the Last Mass Extinction

A new study led by Yale University confirms a long-held theory about the last great mass extinction event in history and how it affected Earth’s oceans. The findings may also answer questions about how marine life eventually recovered. The researchers say it is the first direct evidence that the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ...

Troy Oakes

A species of foraminifera called Heterohelix globulosa.

Stanford-Led Research Shows Huge Die-Off in Ancient Biosphere

Clues from Canadian rocks formed billions of years ago reveal a previously unknown loss of life even greater than that of the mass extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The Earth lost nearly three-quarters of its plant and animal species in a huge die-off in the ancient biosphere. Rather than prowling animals, this ...

Troy Oakes

A mass extinction killed most life on Earth.

Mass Extinction 252 Million Years Ago: Are We Due for Another One?

About 252 million years ago, a rise in global temperatures resulted in a massive mass extinction in Earth’s history called the Permian mass extinction. Almost 96 percent of marine animals and 70 percent of land animals perished. All this happened in just a few thousand years. Scientists warn that a similar fate might await us ...

Armin Auctor

A rise in global temperatures.