Mathematical Expression of a Global Environmental Catastrophe

Abstract

Two hundred and fifty-two million years ago, life on Earth nearly vanished. So many marine animal species disappeared—more than 90 percent—that the event, known as the end-Permian extinction, qualifies as the most severe mass extinction in the geologic record. Unlike the later demise of the dinosaurs, the end-Permian extinction is not linked to a meteor impact. Yet it is unquestionably associated with major environmental change, including a strong perturbation of Earth’s carbon cycle. Recently, an additional piece of the puzzle fell into place. Massive Siberian volcanism, long thought to coincide roughly with the extinction, is now known to have preceded it and continued beyond it.