massive release of CO2, likely due to extreme volcanism in the Siberian Traps, raised the planet’s temperature by an average of 10°C and acidified the oceans. In just 100,000 to 200,000 years, 90% of species were completely wiped out. The warming oceans favored bacteria that produced hydrogen sulfite, which is poisonous to most other life forms. The ocean must have appeared purple, with sulfurous bubbles releasing poisonous gas under a greenish sky. An apocalyptic scenario. What followed has long puzzled scientists. The planet became lethal and remained so for 5 million years. Scientists at the University of Leeds in England and the China University of Geosciences have speculated that the cause may lie in a climatic tipping point: the collapse of tropical forests. The Permian extinction event is unique “because it is the only one in which all plants died.”
