Extinction and global change

Bachground Extinction

The continual process of the turnover of species living on earth

Mass extinction

Extinction rates rise suddenly for a relatively short amount of time

Ordovician-silurian extinction

440 mya

82-88% of all species lost

Intense ice age

Location of the Gondwana supercontinent over the South Pole

Late Devonian Extinction

364 mya

79-87% of all species lost

most significant on marine species

Lack of oxygen in the ocean and rising sea levels and global cooling

Permian-Triassic Extinction

250 mya

93-975 of all species lost

Pangea created extremely hot dry conditions by late permian global temperatures were the highest they had ever been

End Triassic Extinction

200 mya

76-84% of all species lost

most mammal like reptiles and amphibians disappeared (dinosaurs)

falling sea levels maybe but lack of evidence

Cretaceous-tertiary extinction

65 mya

71-81% of all species lost

Non-avian dinosaurs

large asteroid impact but maybe more complex

Anthropogenic drivers of the current mass extinction

Increase in temperatures (CC)

Habitat destruction

Rising sea levels

Extreme events