An episode of extreme global warming that left ocean animals unable to breathe caused the biggest mass extinction in the Earth's history, research has shown. The extinction event at the end of the Permian period 252 million years ago wiped out 96 per cent of all marine species and 70 per cent of land-dwelling vertebrates. If greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, ocean warming could reach 20 per cent of the level experienced in the late Permian by 2100, they point out. Before the Siberian eruptions created a greenhouse-gas planet, the Earth's oceans had temperatures and oxygen levels similar to those present today. Data from the fossil record confirmed that a similar extinction pattern was seen during the Great Dying.

Source: Daily Mail December 06, 2018 19:02 UTC