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About 66 million years ago,
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something terrible happened
to life on our planet.
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Ecosystems were hit with a double blow
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as massive volcanic eruptions filled
the atmosphere with carbon dioxide
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and an asteroid roughly the size
of Manhattan struck the Earth.
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The dust from the impact reduced or
stopped photosynthesis from many plants,
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starving herbivores and the carnivores
that preyed on them.
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Within a short time span,
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three-quarters of the world's species
disappeared forever,
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and the giant dinosaurs,
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flying pterosaurs,
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shelled squids,
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and marine reptiles
that had flourished for ages
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faded into prehistory.
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It may seem like the dinosaurs
were especially unlucky,
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but extinctions of various severities have
occurred throughout the Earth's history,
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and are still happening
all around us today.
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Environments change,
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pushing some species
out of their comfort zones
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while creating new opportunities
for others.
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Invasive species arrive in new habitats,
outcompeting the natives.
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And in some cases,
entire species are wiped out
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as a result of activity
by better adapted organisms.
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Sometimes, however, massive changes
in the environment
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occur too quickly
for most living creatures to adapt,
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causing thousands of species to die off
in a geological instant.
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We call this a mass extinction event,
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and although such events may be rare,
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paleontologists have been able
to identify several of them
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through dramatic changes
in the fossil record,
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where lineages that persisted
through several geological layers
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suddenly disappear.
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In fact, these mass extinctions are used
to divide the Earth's history
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into distinct periods.
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Although the disappearance
of the dinosaurs
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is the best known mass extinction event,
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the largest occurred long before
dinosaurs ever existed.
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252 million years ago,
between the Permian and Triassic periods,
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the Earth's land masses gathered together
into the single supercontinent Pangaea.
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As it coalesced,
its interior was filled with deserts,
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while the single coastline eliminated
many of the shallow tropical seas
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where biodiversity thrived.
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Huge volcanic eruptions
occurred across Siberia,
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coinciding with very high temperatures,
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suggesting a massive greenhouse effect.
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These catastrophes
contributed to the extinction
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of 95% of species in the ocean,
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and on land, the strange
reptiles of the Permian
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gave way to the ancestors of the
far more familiar dinosaurs we know today.
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But mass extinctions are not just a thing
of the distant past.
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Over the last few million years,
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the fluctuation of massive ice sheets
at our planet's poles
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has caused sea levels to rise and fall,
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changing weather patterns
and ocean currents along the way.
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As the ice sheets spread,
retreated, and returned,
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some animals were either
able to adapt to the changes,
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or migrate to a more suitable environment.
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Others, however,
such as giant ground sloths,
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giant hyenas,
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and mammoths went extinct.
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The extinction of these large mammals
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coincides with changes in the climate
and ecosystem due to the melting ice caps.
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But there is also
an uncomfortable overlap
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with the rise of a certain hominid species
originating in Africa 150,000 years ago.
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In the course of their adaptation
to the new environment,
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creating new tools and methods
for gathering food and hunting prey,
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humans may not have single-handedly caused
the extinction of these large animals,
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as some were able to coexist with us
for thousands of years.
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But it's clear that today,
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our tools and methods
have become so effective
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that humans are no longer reacting
to the environment,
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but are actively changing it.
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The extinction of species
is a normal occurrence
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in the background of ecosystems.
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But studies suggest
that rates of extinction today
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for many organisms
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are hundreds to thousands of times higher
than the normal background.
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But the same unique ability that makes
humans capable of driving mass extinctions
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can also enable us to prevent them.
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By learning about past extinction events,
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recognizing what is happening today
as environments change,
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and using this knowledge to lessen
our effect on other species,
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we can transform humanity's impact
on the world
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from something as destructive
as a massive asteroid
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into a collaborative part
of a biologically diverse future.