Mass Extinction

Lisa Dusenbery bio ↓  ·  July 21st, 2011  ·  filed under Other

“It could happen again…”

There is some evidence that the onset of the end-Triassic mass extinction—which occurred 200 million years ago and wiped out at least half of all living species—may have been much more sudden that previously believed. And the culprit? Something that concerns scientists about today’s rising temperatures: the release of methane in the atmosphere and resulting “feedback loop of warming and planetary disruption.”

It is still unknown how much more warming could start the loop and the amount of methane that would release. Here’s hoping that someone will still be here to answer those questions.

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Lisa Dusenbery is the assistant editor at The Rumpus. Besides writing, her interests include dancing, practicing winking, and the smell of basements. She is a recent convert to San Francisco, CA. More from this author →

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