The 6 Craziest Extinctions Ever

Summary

The video by AsapSCIENCE delves into the fascinating yet grim history of Earth's mass extinctions. It reveals that over 99% of animal species that once lived are now extinct, often due to catastrophic natural events. The video outlines five notable extinction events, from the Ordovician to the Cretaceous period, showing their causes, such as volcanic activity and asteroids, and their aftermaths, including the evolution of new life forms like amphibians and mammals. The narrative warns of the potential ongoing sixth mass extinction caused by human activities, highlighting the accelerated rate of species loss due to climate change, habitat destruction, and pollution. As a thought-provoking conclusion, it speculates on the possibility of a new dominant life form if current trends continue.

Highlights

• 440 million years ago, the Ordovician extinction wiped out 86% of species due to cooling seas and draining oceans. 🐟
• 374 million years later, plants triggered a mass extinction by lowering CO2 and causing global cooling. 🌱
• The Permian extinction led to the hottest ocean temps ever recorded and killed 95% of marine life, setting the stage for reptiles. 🦎
• An asteroid impact caused the extinction of dinosaurs, leading to the rise of mammals. 🦖➡️🐭
• Human activities are drastically increasing extinction rates, potentially leading to a new mass extinction. ⚠️

Key Takeaways

• Over 99% of ancient animal species are extinct! 😮
• There have been five major mass extinctions in Earth's history. 🌍
• Human activities might be triggering a sixth mass extinction. 🚨
• The Ordovician extinction saw 86% of species gone due to cooling seas. 🐚
• Plants once caused a mass extinction by cooling the earth and depleting oxygen. 🌿
• The asteroid that hit Mexico ~65 million years ago wiped out the dinosaurs. 🌑
• Mass extinctions reshaped life, leading to the rise of mammals and eventually humans! 🐾
• Our actions today might set up the next big extinction event. 🌫️
• Extinction paves the way for new life to dominate! 🌱

Overview

Have you ever imagined a world where most ocean creatures simply vanish? That's essentially what happened during the Ordovician extinction, 440 million years ago when Earth witnessed one of its most drastic climate shifts. Oceans receded, and glaciers expanded—all thanks to volcanic rocks and their sneaky CO2 absorption. 🌊❄️

Fast forward to the Permian extinction, the granddaddy of them all! Imagine acid rain corrosively pouring down and seas turning into virtually unlivable hot tubs. This cataclysm led to the demise of a whopping 95% of marine species. Volcanic activities and rising CO2 levels wreaked havoc on the biosphere, setting the stage for the dominance of dinosaurs. 🌋🌧️

And now, we might be writing a new chapter in the extinction chronicles—The Anthropocene extinction. Unlike the million-year events of the past, this one could unfold over mere centuries, driven by humans. Climate change, habitat destruction, and pollution are the villains in our story. 🌡️🏭 Could we be paving the way for an unexpected contender to dominate the Earth? Food for thought, indeed! 🤔🍃

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Mass Extinctions The chapter begins by highlighting the significant fact that over 99% of animal species that have ever lived are now extinct. It introduces the concept of mass extinctions, events causing such severe changes that most species are wiped out in a short time. The chapter outlines five of the most significant mass extinctions in history, suggesting the possibility of a sixth occurring currently. It specifically mentions the Ordovician extinction, occurring 440 million years ago, when creatures mostly inhabited shallow seas. During this time, newly formed volcanic rock eroded and absorbed carbon dioxide, leading to a drop in CO2 levels and a subsequent decrease in global temperatures.
• 00:30 - 01:00: The Ordovician Extinction The Ordovician Extinction is marked by significant climatic and geological changes that led to the loss of approximately 86% of species. This mass extinction event was influenced by the lock-away of water in ice, causing ocean levels to fluctuate and shallow seas to drain. Over millions of years, despite such disruptions, the oceans gradually repopulated, introducing fish, while early plants established themselves on land. These plants were integral to supporting early crawling and flying insects, setting the stage for subsequent ecological evolutions and eventually contributing to another mass extinction 374 million years ago.
• 01:00 - 01:30: The Late Devonian Extinction The Late Devonian Extinction was a period marked by significant global cooling due to plants absorbing large amounts of CO2. These plants altered soil composition, leading to nutrient runoff into the ocean which created massive algae blooms. This algae, in turn, depleted oxygen levels, causing more than half of ocean species to perish. Despite this mass extinction, a small group of fish equipped with foot-like fins and lungs managed to survive. Over a span of 100 million years, these resilient creatures evolved into amphibians, reptiles, and nearly all modern land animals. The chapter briefly notes the Permian extinction, occurring 250 million years ago, as the most severe mass extinction event recorded in history.
• 01:30 - 02:00: The Permian Extinction During the Permian Extinction, a catastrophic event wiped out 70% of terrestrial life and over 95% of marine life. Volcanic activity released massive amounts of gases, obliterating the ozone layer and increasing ocean temperatures to 40 degrees Celsius, a temperature hotter than most hot tubs. Acid rain further decimated land life. The earth's ecosystem struggled to recover for 50 million years before facing the fourth mass extinction. This period also saw the emergence of early small dinosaurs as a vast volcanic rift appeared on the planet.
• 02:00 - 02:30: The Triassic-Jurassic Extinction The Triassic-Jurassic Extinction chapter delves into a period marked by significant geological and biological changes that set the stage for the rise of dinosaurs. As the supercontinent split, massive volcanic activity released large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, leading to increased temperatures that contributed to a mass extinction, wiping out approximately 80% of species. This drastic reduction in biodiversity paved the way for dinosaurs to thrive and eventually dominate the landscape for 135 million years, growing into some of the largest creatures to have ever walked the Earth. However, the narrative suggests that even the reign of dinosaurs was destined to end, hinting at the inevitability of change in Earth's history.
• 02:30 - 03:30: The Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction The chapter discusses the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, which led to the demise of large dinosaurs. This extinction was triggered by an asteroid impact in present-day Mexico, resulting in atmospheric changes and the eventual evolution of small surviving dinosaurs into birds. This extinction paved the way for mammals, descendants of small creatures, to diversify and dominate the planet.
• 03:30 - 04:30: Present Day Extinction Threats The chapter 'Present Day Extinction Threats' discusses how human dominance has rapidly changed Earth over just a few decades, akin to significant geological events like those that caused past extinctions. With carbon dioxide levels rising by 25 percent in the last 50 years, climate change poses a critical threat. Additionally, human activities such as hunting, fishing, and habitat destruction have led to the extermination of hundreds of species, presenting a major modern extinction threat.
• 04:30 - 05:30: Conclusion and Further Exploration The chapter "Conclusion and Further Exploration" highlights the alarming rate of current species extinctions, estimated to be 100 to 1000 times higher than the natural background rate. It forecasts that if all currently threatened species with declining populations go extinct, a true mass extinction could occur within a few hundred years. The chapter notes that historically, mass extinctions leave some survivors, often small and unexpected organisms, while those at the top of the food chain are most heavily impacted. This prompts a contemplation of whether history might repeat itself, potentially allowing for lesser-known species to become dominant.

The 6 Craziest Extinctions Ever Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Over 99% of the animal species that have ever lived are now extinct. And sometimes, an event occurs causing changes so drastic that most species are completely wiped out within a short period of time. So here are the 5 most incredible mass extinctions ever to occur, and a look at whether the 6th might be happening right now. 440 million years ago was the The Ordovician extinction. At that time, most creatures swam or crawled in shallow seas. As newly created volcanic rock was worn down by water and wind, it reacted with CO2 and absorbed it. As a result, carbon dioxide levels dropped, temperatures fell
• 00:30 - 01:00 and water got locked away as ice. This caused ocean levels to drop and shallow seas to drain and after several cycles of growing and shrinking glaciers, about 86 per cent of species were lost forever. Then over millions of years the oceans slowly repopulated with fish and the land was colonized by early plants. These plants were then eaten by the first crawling and flying insects. Then 374 million years ago these new plants contributed to the next mass extinction. The
• 01:00 - 01:30 plants absorbed enough C02 to create another round of global cooling. They changed soil causing nutrients to wash into the ocean creating enormous amounts of algae which sucked up oxygen. More than half of ocean species essentially choked to death. Although somewhere in the world, a small family of fish with foot-like fins and lungs managed to scrape by. Over the next 100 million years, these creatures would evolve into amphibians, reptiles and nearly all modern land animals. 250 million years ago is the Permian extinction. The single worst mass extinction in history,
• 01:30 - 02:00 70 per cent of life on land and over 95 per cent of life in the oceans was wiped out. Billions of tonnes of volcanic gases destroyed the ozone layer and the average ocean temperature hit 40 degrees celsius, which is hotter than most hot tubs. Acid rain fell all over the planet, devastating life on land. Life had only 50 million years to recover until the fourth mass extinction came. At this time early small dinosaurs roamed the land. A huge volcanic rift opened
• 02:00 - 02:30 in the middle of the planet; eventually splitting the Americas from Europe and Africa, and forming the Atlantic Ocean. The volcanoes spewed out CO2, increasing temperatures and killing about 80 per cent of the species around at the time. Yet in this newly emptied world dinosaurs did extremely well and during the next 135 million years, they grew to become some of the largest land animals the world had ever seen. But all good things must come to the end. Many scientists believe that the extinction
• 02:30 - 03:00 of dinosaurs was caused by an asteroid the size of a small town crashing into what is now Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. The impact shot millions of tons of dust into the atmosphere, blocking out sunlight and spelling an end to all large dinosaurs. The small ones that survived evolved into birds. The world was now primed for a small, scuffling, rat-like creature, the ancestor of all modern mammals. Within 50 million years, its descendants - from wildebeest and whales to horses and us humans - have diversified and grown to dominate nearly
• 03:00 - 03:30 every available environment on earth. So where does that leave us now, 65 million years later? Well, human dominance of earth has led to big changes too, except the changes of today are happening over decades, not millennia. Carbon dioxide levels, implicated in so many of the past extinctions, have climbed at least 25 percent in just the last 50 years, almost no time in geological terms. In addition to climate change, we’ve exterminated hundreds of species by hunting, fishing, habitat destruction
• 03:30 - 04:00 and pollution. It’s been estimated that current species extinction rates are between 100 and 1000 times higher than the natural background rate, and that if all the species that are currently threatened by declining populations actually do go extinct, we may reach the level of a true mass extinction in just a few hundred years. And while all the mass extinctions of the past have had some survivors, it’s worth remembering that the creatures at the top of the food chain are usually hit the hardest. We may be setting the stage for history to repeat itself, and for some small, unexpected organism to replace
• 04:00 - 04:30 us as the planet’s dominant form of life. Curious about the coolest animals that existed during these mass extinctions? Check out our new video “5 Insane Creatures We Wish Still Existed” over on our AsapTHOUGHT channel which explores some of the neatest and most absurd creatures through history that are no longer with us. There's a Link in the description for that video. And subscribe for more weekly science videos!