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GOOD WHILE IT LASTED
Down To Earth
|March 16, 2022
Earth is losing species at an unprecedented rate, which, many believe, is the planet's sixth mass extinction. Since the biodiversity loss this time is the doing of humans, the event also marks the beginning of the Anthropocene Epoch, a self-aggrandising nomenclature that highlights our disproportionate and irreversible impacts on the surroundings
1st Extinction
The Ordovician Era
443 million years ago 85% of all species went extinct Reasons: An ice age“ followed by a rapid warming
2nd Extinction
The Devonian Age
374 million years ago 75% of all species went extinct Reasons: Fluctuating sea levels, altering global cooling and warming, drop in Co, concentration and periods of low oxygen
3rd Extinction
The Permian Age
250 million years ago 95% of all species went extinct Reasons: An asteroid hit the planet, filling the air with pulverised particles, leading to inhabitable climate conditions
4th Extinction
The Late Triassic Age
200 million years ago 80% of all species went extinct Reasons: Some colossal geological activity in the today's Atlantic Ocean that resulted in high CO,, global warming and acidified oceans
5th Extinction
Cretaceous Period
65 million years ago 76% of all species went extinct Reasons: Meteor crash in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, high volcanic activity
6th Extinction
The Holocene Epoch
About 99% of the planet's species have been lost in the previous five mass extinctions
Ongoing
Reasons: Anthropogenic factors like climate change and introduction of invasive plant species
This story is from the March 16, 2022 edition of Down To Earth.
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