Tiny microbes on the bottom of the ocean floor may have been responsible for the largest extinction event our planet has ever seen, according to a new study.

These microbes of death were so small, that 1 billion of them could fit in a thimble-full of ocean sediment, and yet, they were almost responsible for killing off all the life on our planet, the scientists suggest.

The end-Permian extinction was the most catastrophic mass extinction the Earth has ever seen. It started roughly 252 million years ago —long before the dinosaurs— and it continued for 20,000 years. By the time it was over, nearly 90% of all life on Earth had been destroyed, the scientists say.

“It was not as dramatic as the impact that probably killed the dinosaurs, but it was worse,” said Gregory Fournier, an evolutionary biologist at MIT. “Things were very close to being over for good.”

Scientists have struggled to understand exactly what caused the long, slow, mass die-off in this dark era of our planet’s history. The geologic record tells us there was a sharp uptick of C02 levels at the time. That would have caused the oceans to acidify and the Earth to heat up, making the environment inhospitable for most forms of life. But what actually caused the C02 levels to rise has remained a mystery.

….Now, in a paper published this week in PNAS, researchers from MIT and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Nanjing, China, have fingered a new and unlikely suspect — a tiny methane-spewing microbe known as Methanosarcina.

Full report: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-permian-extinction-microbes-20140401,0,818600.story

Bubblecar said:

Tiny microbes on the bottom of the ocean floor may have been responsible for the largest extinction event our planet has ever seen, according to a new study.

These microbes of death were so small, that 1 billion of them could fit in a thimble-full of ocean sediment, and yet, they were almost responsible for killing off all the life on our planet, the scientists suggest.

The end-Permian extinction was the most catastrophic mass extinction the Earth has ever seen. It started roughly 252 million years ago —long before the dinosaurs— and it continued for 20,000 years. By the time it was over, nearly 90% of all life on Earth had been destroyed, the scientists say.

“It was not as dramatic as the impact that probably killed the dinosaurs, but it was worse,” said Gregory Fournier, an evolutionary biologist at MIT. “Things were very close to being over for good.”

Scientists have struggled to understand exactly what caused the long, slow, mass die-off in this dark era of our planet’s history. The geologic record tells us there was a sharp uptick of C02 levels at the time. That would have caused the oceans to acidify and the Earth to heat up, making the environment inhospitable for most forms of life. But what actually caused the C02 levels to rise has remained a mystery.

….Now, in a paper published this week in PNAS, researchers from MIT and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Nanjing, China, have fingered a new and unlikely suspect — a tiny methane-spewing microbe known as Methanosarcina.

Full report: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-permian-extinction-microbes-20140401,0,818600.story

Very interesting. Although I can download the site, the story will not load.

Here’s a report from MIT themselves:

http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/ancient-whodunit-may-be-solved-microbes-did-it

There is a fine Balance of Chemistry

and there are a lot of human beings who do not understand chemistry and biology

It a very interesting article

a tiny methane-spewing microbe known as Methanosarcina

a very powerful microbe

“It was not as dramatic as the impact that probably killed the dinosaurs, but it was worse

that bit does not make sense

not as dramatic but it was worse?

99% of dinosaurs die in a day, that’s news. Dinosaur numbers decline by small percentage every day for 20,000 years, that’s not news.

Bubblecar said:

Here’s a report from MIT themselves:

http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/ancient-whodunit-may-be-solved-microbes-did-it

Thanks Mr Car. The following has a lot of relevant information too, with the paragraph below showing the severity of the event.

>>The Permian–Triassic (P–Tr) extinction event, commonly known as the Great Dying, occurred about 252 Ma (million years) ago, forming the boundary between the Permian and Triassic geologic periods, as well as the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. It is the Earth’s most severe known extinction event, with up to 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species becoming extinct. It is the only known mass extinction of insects. Some 57% of all families and 83% of all genera became extinct. Because so much biodiversity was lost, the recovery of life on Earth took significantly longer than after any other extinction event, possibly up to 10 million years.<<

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian%E2%80%93Triassic_extinction_event

I would have thought that the mass extinction would have happened over a long period of time

CrazyNeutrino said:

I would have thought that the mass extinction would have happened over a long period of time

I would think they would, or at least a slow build-up, but you must remember you are dealing with geological time where trying to be exact of events so long ago is not really feasible. However once things reach a certain point (Tipping Point), they happen much more quickly.

Anyone have the Link concerning the Methane Spewing Microbe
that’s currently being released by the Melting Permafrost? :-/

Ogmog said:

Anyone have the Link concerning the Methane Spewing Microbe
that’s currently being released by the Melting Permafrost? :-/

Methane-producing microbe blooms in permafrost thaw
http://phys.org/news/2014-03-methane-producing-microbe-blooms-permafrost.html

…this is not good…

Ogmog said:

Methane-producing microbe blooms in permafrost thaw
http://phys.org/news/2014-03-methane-producing-microbe-blooms-permafrost.html

…this is not good…

Does seem ominous.

Bubblecar said:

Ogmog said:

Methane-producing microbe blooms in permafrost thaw
http://phys.org/news/2014-03-methane-producing-microbe-blooms-permafrost.html

…this is not good…

Does seem ominous.

people be wary..

> Scientists have struggled to understand exactly what caused the long, slow, mass die-off in this dark era of our planet’s history.

Massive volcanic eruptions. All the major extinctions, except for a fraction (perhaps half) of the K-T extinction, are known to be caused by volcanic eruptions.

> methane

No, sulfur dioxide.

mollwollfumble said:

> Scientists have struggled to understand exactly what caused the long, slow, mass die-off in this dark era of our planet’s history.

Massive volcanic eruptions. All the major extinctions, except for a fraction (perhaps half) of the K-T extinction, are known to be caused by volcanic eruptions.

References?

PermeateFree said:

mollwollfumble said:

> Scientists have struggled to understand exactly what caused the long, slow, mass die-off in this dark era of our planet’s history.

Massive volcanic eruptions. All the major extinctions, except for a fraction (perhaps half) of the K-T extinction, are known to be caused by volcanic eruptions.

References?

If anyone is really interested in the science of the ice ages, I recommend this blog.
The writer goes into some very detailed analyses of the literature on the subject.

I subscribe to it. The updates take some concentration to read through, but I find them educational.

http://scienceofdoom.com/

morrie said:

PermeateFree said:

mollwollfumble said:

> Scientists have struggled to understand exactly what caused the long, slow, mass die-off in this dark era of our planet’s history.

Massive volcanic eruptions. All the major extinctions, except for a fraction (perhaps half) of the K-T extinction, are known to be caused by volcanic eruptions.

References?

If anyone is really interested in the science of the ice ages, I recommend this blog.
The writer goes into some very detailed analyses of the literature on the subject.

I subscribe to it. The updates take some concentration to read through, but I find them educational.

http://scienceofdoom.com/

Specifically, this bit.
http://scienceofdoom.com/roadmap/ghosts-of-climates-past/

morrie said:

Specifically, this bit.
http://scienceofdoom.com/roadmap/ghosts-of-climates-past/

OK, I’ve bookmarked the page to have a good look through. morrie, can you assure me that I won’t end up on some form of watchlist by doing this? Come the court cases I’d hate to be included as a Denier.

sibeen said:

morrie said:

Specifically, this bit.
http://scienceofdoom.com/roadmap/ghosts-of-climates-past/

OK, I’ve bookmarked the page to have a good look through. morrie, can you assure me that I won’t end up on some form of watchlist by doing this? Come the court cases I’d hate to be included as a Denier.

I can’t give you any guarantees. :)

It is quite heavy going. Not some trivial hand waving exercise. But the one thing I do guarantee is that it will open your mind to some of the complexities of analysing the extinction events. I have found it fascinating, in the small doses that the updates provide.

Might As Well

BOOKMARK THIS TOO:

http://www.zeeburgnieuws.nl/nieuws/mb_methane_hydrate_melt.html

Just As “DOOMful” :-/ …and fairly well documented.

morrie said:

I can’t give you any guarantees. :)

Checking around I suspect I may be safe. WuWT cites this site as an AGW supporter. phew

morrie said:

sibeen said:

morrie said:

Specifically, this bit.
http://scienceofdoom.com/roadmap/ghosts-of-climates-past/

OK, I’ve bookmarked the page to have a good look through. morrie, can you assure me that I won’t end up on some form of watchlist by doing this? Come the court cases I’d hate to be included as a Denier.

I can’t give you any guarantees. :)

It is quite heavy going. Not some trivial hand waving exercise. But the one thing I do guarantee is that it will open your mind to some of the complexities of analysing the extinction events. I have found it fascinating, in the small doses that the updates provide.

Major environmental events are never simple and other factors become involved as the process develops. The anthropogenic production of CO2 is purely the trigger, with other induced events adding to global warming as the situation worsens. It is for this reason why it was so vitally important to reduce our production of greenhouse gasses, to stop or at least reduce the effect of these other contributing features, which will take it beyond our control.