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Famous's avatar

There's been more than 5 mass extinctions and I still do not know why main stream science still clings to 5. I think it might be that science advances one death at a time deal, because it's no secret. For example:

*Newly discovered mass extinction event triggered the dawn of the dinosaurs*

Published: September 16, 2020

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"Huge volcanic eruptions 233 million years ago pumped carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour into the atmosphere. This series of violent explosions, on what we now know as the west coast of Canada, led to massive global warming. Our new research has revealed that this was a planet-changing mass extinction event that killed off many of the dominant tetrapods and heralded the dawn of the dinosaurs."

https://theconversation.com/newly-discovered-mass-extinction-event-triggered-the-dawn-of-the-dinosaurs-146248

This was published 4 years ago, yet I still here scientists say 5 mass extinctions have occurred.

That first paragraph should look familiar because it's the type(hothouse) of most mass extinctions and many lesser extinctions and loading the atmosphere with increasing amounts of greenhouse gasses it's what the humans are currently doing. Volcanism vs a rapacious and clever ape digging up and burning the carbon makes no big difference. The physics and chemistry and effect of the climate are basically the same.

"pumped carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour into the atmosphere."

Hothouse extinctions via volcanism (volcanic traps) puking out greenhouse gasses are the norm on this planet. Some scientists are still debating whether volcanism from the Deccan traps contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs. It's a tough sell to a public that has 100 cartoon images of a big dinosaur looking up as a big asteroid with a flaming tail comes crashing down to earth embedded in their brains. I've witnessed a number of guys lose their shit arguing that volcanism played no part. Why so emotional ???weird.

There is another claimed mass extinction from 2021 that is significant, but does not appear to meet the strictest definition of mass extinction which I have heard is at least 75% of life on land and sea. This one is different in that it is not hot house and looks to be regional.

*Previously Unknown Mass Extinction Occurred 30 Million Years Ago in Africa and Arabia*

Oct 8, 2021

Nearly 63% of Afro-Arabian mammalian species went extinct approximately 30 million years ago (Oligocene epoch), after Earth’s climate shifted from swampy to icy.

"By gathering data on hundreds of fossils from multiple sites in Africa, they were able to build evolutionary trees for these groups, pinpointing when new lineages branched out and time-stamping each species’ first and last known appearances.

Their results show that all five mammal groups suffered huge losses around the Eocene-Oligocene boundary.

“It was a real reset button. After a few million years, these groups start popping up again in the fossil record, but with a new look,” Dr. de Vries said."

https://www.sci.news/paleontology/eocene-oligocene-mass-extinction-10148.html

Lastly, I came across this last year and was - WTF??

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*19 'mass extinctions' had CO2 levels we're now veering toward, study warns*

The research looked at peaks in biodiversity loss and their relationship with atmospheric CO2, finding 50 events over the last 534 million years that can be considered mass extinctions.

Within a human lifetime, concentrations of CO2 in Earth's atmosphere could reach levels associated with 19 "mass extinctions" that have taken place in the last 534 million years, new research suggests.

By 2100, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could rise to 800 parts per million by volume (ppmv) — almost double the concentration of roughly 421 ppmv recorded this year — if we fail to curb emissions from burning fossil fuels and converting land for agriculture.

That would be edging close to the average CO2 concentrations (870 ppmv) associated with huge crashes in marine biodiversity over the last 534 million years, according to a study published June 22 in the journal Earth's Future. These extinction events are preserved in the fossil record, allowing scientists to plot how biodiversity and atmospheric CO2 evolved throughout Earth's history.

"The relationship between carbon dioxide in the past and extinction in the past gives us a kind of yardstick that we can apply to the present," study author William Jackson Davis, a biologist and president of the non-profit Environmental Studies Institute in Santa Cruz, California, told Live Science.

*CO2 and extinction move in tandem*

In the new study, Davis found that CO2 concentrations oscillate with marine biodiversity in the fossil record.

"When carbon dioxide goes up, extinction goes up, and when carbon dioxide goes down, extinction goes down," he said. Davis then used this relationship to estimate biodiversity loss under current atmospheric conditions.

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/climate-change/19-mass-extinctions-had-co2-levels-were-now-veering-towards-study-warns

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I'm not trying to put anyone down. I'm kinda confused because there appears to be multiple definitions for a 'Mass Extinction'. Moreover, the findings only makes the situation and human future all the more dire. Perhaps we should call the Carbon cycle the Extinction cycle?

Peace and thank you for your work.

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GEORGE PAUL's avatar

Well done!!

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