El Nino and Massive Volcanic Eruptions Triggered Mass Extinction of Life 250 Million Years Ago

New research has revealed that about 25 crore years ago, there was a major catastrophe on Earth in which life was destroyed. At that time, the El Nino cycle was believed to be behind this, which was caused by the carbon dioxide gas spread in the atmosphere. This carbon dioxide gas was released due to continuous massive explosions in volcanoes.

There have been indications of major devastation in the Permian period due to El Niño. At that time, there were huge volcanic eruptions (in present-day Siberia) due to which so much carbon dioxide spread into the atmosphere that major climate change occurred. Due to this, almost 90 percent of the species on earth became extinct. Although events like these in the past are rare now, they have serious implications for today’s climate crisis.

How did the Siberian volcano become the cause of destruction?
The Siberian Traps eruptions were a series of eruptions in large volcanic fissures that released large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Due to this event the Earth’s climate became very hot. This led to a series of long-lasting severe El Nino events.

Live Science According to Alex Farnsworth of the University of Bristol, this was a time when the Earth’s temperature had increased beyond limits. The existing species did not have the ability to withstand this temperature, which had developed the habit of living in a certain temperature over thousands of years. Forests were the only life on Earth that could absorb so much carbon dioxide. But the rising temperatures destroyed them, making the situation even worse.

Can such situations happen again?
Experts say that the level of carbon dioxide during the Permian period was much higher than today’s 419 ppm. However, it is not possible to increase the amount of gas suddenly. But the way humans are throwing CO2 into the atmosphere due to their activities, it seems that to some extent similar conditions may arise again on Earth.