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Wildfires may have sparked ecosystem collapse during Earth's worst mass extinction by Staff Writers Cork, Ireland (SPX) Jul 01, 2022
Researchers at University College Cork (UCC) and the Swedish Museum of Natural History examined the end-Permian mass extinction (252 million years ago) that eliminated almost every species on Earth, with entire ecosystems collapsing. The researchers discovered a sharp spike in wildfire activity from this most devastating of mass extinctions. Promoted by rapid greenhouse gas emissions from volcanoes, extreme warming and drying led to wildfires across vast regions that were previously permanently wet. Instead of capturing carbon from the atmosphere, these wetlands became major sources of atmospheric carbon, enhancing the sharp warming trend. The research is published in PALAIOS today (30th June).
Fossils examined in eastern Australia and Antarctica "Sifting through the fossil plant records of eastern Australia and Antarctica, we found high abundances of burnt, or charcoalified, plants throughout the late Permian Period. From this high baseline, charcoal abundances reached a prominent peak right at the top of the last Permian coal beds, indicating a major but short-lived increase in wildfires. This was followed by low charcoal for the next three million years of the Early Triassic Period. It was an end-Permian burnout, followed by an Early Triassic depression" comments Dr Chris Mays, Lecturer in Palaeontology at University College Cork (UCC) and lead author of the study.
Earth on a path to a similar mass extinction? These major 'carbon sinks'?regions of natural capture of carbon from the atmosphere?are crucial in our fight against climate change. As the fossil record reveals, without these regions of carbon capture, the world can stay intolerably warm for hundreds of millennia. "The potential for wildfires as a direct extinction driver during hyperthermal events, rather than a symptom of climatic changes deserves further examination. Unlike the species that suffered the mass extinctions of the past, we have the opportunity to prevent the burning of the world's carbon sinks and help avoid the worst effects of modern warming" comments Dr Mays.
Research Report:"End-Permian burnout: The role of Permian-Triassic wildfires in extinction, carbon cycling and environmental change in eastern Gondwana"
Cataloging the diverse origins of Earth's minerals Washington DC (SPX) Jul 01, 2022 A 15-year study led by the Carnegie Institution for Science details the origins and diversity of every known mineral on Earth, a landmark body of work that will help reconstruct the history of life on Earth, guide the search for new minerals and ore deposits, predict possible characteristics of future life, and aid the search for habitable planets and extraterrestrial life. In twin papers published by American Mineralogist and sponsored in part by NASA, Carnegie scientists Robert Hazen and Shaunna ... read more
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