The end-Permian event 252 million years ago wiped out about 96% of marine species; life hung on by a few percent and needed some 10 million years to recover. The culprit was not an asteroid but the Siberian Traps, erupting for hundreds of thousands of years, driving CO₂ up and leaving the oceans hot, acidic and starved of oxygen. The other four had quite different causes, from the Ordovician glaciation 444 million years ago to the Chicxulub impact 66 million years ago. What they share is an environment changing faster than life could adapt.
The end-Permian event 252 million years ago wiped out about 96% of marine species; life hung on by a few percent and needed some 10 million years to recover. The culprit was not an asteroid but the Siberian Traps, erupting for hundreds of thousands of years, driving CO₂ up and leaving the oceans hot, acidic and starved of oxygen. The other four had quite different causes, from the Ordovician glaciation 444 million years ago to the Chicxulub impact 66 million years ago. What they share is an environment changing faster than life could adapt.
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