A new study suggests that a powerful El Niño cycle, fueled by a massive release of carbon dioxide, may have contributed to Earth’s largest mass extinction about 250 million years ago, during the late Permian period. Volcanic eruptions in what is now Siberia caused massive amounts of carbon dioxide to enter the atmosphere, leading to drastic climate changes. These changes led to the extinction of 90 percent of Earth’s species. While past events like this are rare, they have serious implications for the current climate crisis.
Impact of Siberian volcanic eruptions
The eruption of the Siberian Traps, a series of huge volcanic fissures, spewed huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This phenomenon caused extreme global warming, leading to a series of long-lasting and severe El Niño events.
Alex Farnsworth, a paleoclimate modeler at the University of Bristol, told Live Science that during this period, temperatures rose far beyond the limits to which life had adapted for thousands of years, pushing species beyond their limits. On land, forests that helped absorb carbon dioxide were destroyed, worsening the atmospheric crisis.
How climate change affected oceans and land
The study’s lead author, Yadong Sun, an Earth scientist at the China University of Geosciences, found that the temperature gradient between the western and eastern parts of Panthalassa, an ancient ocean, weakened during the warming period. The ocean became too warm for most marine life to survive, especially when tropical waters reached temperatures of 40°C. On land, forest-dependent animals struggled to survive, as extreme heat and vegetation loss created a feedback loop that worsened conditions for survival.
Modern implications
Although carbon dioxide levels during the Permian period were much higher than the current 419 ppm, the rapid rate at which humans are adding carbon to the atmosphere could potentially lead to similar destabilizing effects.