Rawr, I'm a Dinosaur...That's Extinct D:

Mass Extinctions: Small but Deadly

Note: Hello! Sorry for posting up my blog so late D: ...uhm..better late than never right..? I hope... Q.Q

Link to Article: http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21582243-biggest-extinction-history-was-probably-caused-space-rock-changed

            Ever since I was young, I loved pondering about the world; I always wondered how the world became what it is today. I would sit in the car, stare out the window, and think. There is so much that we do not know about the past, yet we can only discover bits and pieces of it.

            The mass extinction that took place millions of years ago in the Permian period was one puzzle piece that remained an obscurity to, not only me, everybody. However, Dr. Tohver has possibly solved this mystery.

            The Permian extinction was the largest extinction in history, yet there was still no concrete answer as to what has caused it. Many people have inferred that impact was the cause; Dr. Tohver confirms this conjecture. The crater in Brazil, the Araguinha, is said to be the culprit. Its small size is due to the fact the comet or meteorite contained a large amount of gas instead of rock. The gases, then, created a greenhouse effect that eventually led to the extinction of plants, since the temperature was too high, and inevitably led to the extinction of most species.

            Although it will take more evidence to support this hypothesis, this occurrence seems plausible. Today, we experience our own global warming with greenhouse gases, and we can see its effects. The mass extinction is what we have today but on a much larger scale. At that point, the heat is only suitable for certain species-the species that aren’t suited for such intense temperatures will diminish. If this explanation is correct, we should all take our actions into consideration. The Earth had already experienced a mass extinction, and we should attempt to prevent such an occurrence from happening again. If we continue to increase the amount of greenhouse gases that are present, we are putting the Earth at risk of another mass extinction. Currently, temperatures have already begun to rise-the reason why ice caps are slowly beginning to melt. We must all be more cautious of our actions and how it can affect our environment by learning how to conserve our resources and dispose of waste properly.

            I will continue to ponder about this piece of the past until Dr. Tohver’s hypothesis is confirmed. However, this event does not only concern me; it concerns all of us. We learn history to prevent its mistakes from occurring again. If we humans plan to continue to survive, we must learn from this event and act accordingly. Hopefully, humans will not be included in a mass extinction that we created ourselves.