Top 10 APOCALYPTIC FACTS about the Earth’s Greatest Mass EXTINCTION

Humanity’s rise to become the dominant species on the planet seems to have been a fairly orderly progression from one species to another. But this could not be further from the truth. It was more like an arbitrary, often brutal process; a sort of “survive or die” situation. Since life began on our planet, probably some more than 4 billion years ago, Earth went through a series of ups and downs in terms of its living creatures. So much so, that 99% of all beings that have ever existed, are now gone. The planet went through 5 or 6 major events where more than half of its inhabitants were extinguished, with another series of smaller ones taking place now and again.
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Coming up:
10. The Permian Period
9. A Massive, Earth-shaking Eruption
8. First Came Acid Rain
7. Then Came a Volcanic Winter
6. Quickly Followed by a Massive Global Warming
5. Leading to the Oceans Turning to Acid from Above
4. And Oxygen-depleted from Below
3. With Water Turning Pink and Poisonous as a Result
2. And Then Came the Final Blow
1. The Aftermath
Source/Further reading:
• Stephen Hawking - How ...
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• Nova: Permian Extinction
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[@arnepianocanada]

TopTenz is a great learning resource and Simon a great teacher. Full-meal range - tragic (worst despots), inspiring (celebs once homeless), serious (environment, addictions), fun (Richard Gere links) and more - gives Brain Gym capacity-building. Simon, you engage us with great voice, classy accent (a pox on the naysayers), crystal clarityy at speed, and England's great cultural assets of dignity, humour and discretion. To quote the Gershwin brothers in I Got Rhythm, "Who could ask for anything more?"

[@arnepianocanada]

oops, overused word 'great' - but please consider it a byoroduct of my enthusiasm.

[@imreallyadog3443]

Simon's voice helps me fall asleep at night. Thats a compliment, somewhat..

[@jonathonsears6269]

David Attenborough puts me to sleep. it's definitely a compliment.

[@nicholassudov2299]

Thank you. Yes, quite a few mass extinctions there were. General public knows only about the dinosaurs saying "bye bye" 65 million years ago.

[@jaspr1999]

Thank you for going into the methane venting. It's sorely lacking in most information that is distributed.

[@TreasureByMeasure]

jaspr1999 Yes, the methane ventilation is of the utmost importance!

[@mr.privateman772]

jaspr1999 is that the same gas that came up from lakes and killed whole groups of people? I think in Africa quite awhile ago. Or maybe it was Carbon dioxide?

[@jaspr1999]

Yes, carbon dioxide and the area still vents from time to time. Anyone going there has to wear an oxygen mask, just in case.

[@mr.privateman772]

jaspr1999 thanks 😊. As awful as the tragedy has been. The documentary I have seen about it was fascinating. Whole group of people basically dropping dead. Mother Nature kicks arse when she is having a bad day 😂

[@shebbs1]

mr.private man Carbon Dioxide, in Chad.

[@emperorpalpatine4681]

Love this channel. Really informative and always interesting subjects

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Darth Palpamemes Truer words have never been spoken!

[@davidwitcher4032]

I usually like his stuff but this was a use of scientific trivia to back up the idea that we are going to wipe out the planet with human induced co2 global warming. Its getting old guys.

[@AdiC87]

Well, that's the whole point. It's becoming real, not old.

[@pallekanin91]

David Witcher are you drunk or just an ignorant :)

[@davidwitcher4032]

walk away you idiot unless you want to engage on the subject of global warming.

[@Aeturnalis]

So far, the best of the top tens videos. Excellent work

[@Pfromm007]

This channel has quickly become one of my favorite on KZbin!

[@AifDaimon]

I'm aware of this mass extinction, but didn't know to what extent its severity was

[@sislertx]

Stay tuned.. They are always changing the story...

[@PaleoTheExaminer]

@@sislertx you mean UPDATING DUE TO NEW EVIDENCE

[@Smokydoggg]

"Many will say that this is just a way for the planet to reboot itself in terms of life"... That doesn't make it ok. When the planet "reboots itself" that may mean that we die along with everything else.

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Smoky Doggg Except for like, 100 people who were some kind of reclusive wierdos. Then through evolution, the human race just becomes a bunch of wierdos.

[@NoIfsAndsOrButtsCA]

Us dying isn't the problem, we caused it, we have it coming, the problems is 99.9% of all life on the planet with be dragged down with us and there is the possibility the planet will never recover, as mentioned in the video, we could turn the Earth into another Venus.

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Why care about them? They couldn't stop it either!

[@Smokydoggg]

NoIfsAndsOrButtsCA I realize that but some people are such self-centered idiotic douche bags that I have to appeal to them by pointing out that we are not just killing many of the species we enjoy having around but also shooting ourselves in the foot while we're at it. So many people are so shortsighted right now, yes people get jobs yes our economy grows and we get cheap energy from fossil fuels but AT WHAT COST? Even if we don't see the effects in our lifetimes is this really what we want to leave for our children or grandchildren?

[@dobypilgrim6160]

Take a time machine back to 1975 when the earth was going to be in a new glacial period by now. Take a time machine forward and look back at the hysteria being ginned up now. Earth's climate changes. It always has.

[@NashDTV]

I'd really like to see you tackle the other mass extinction as well the one that killed the dinosaurs I mean I've seen videos on it before but not to this level of quality Fantastic video

[@bertiepimplebum5633]

Extinction - I'm not afraid die - I just don't want to be there when it happens.

[@chillax4169]

your videos never let me down, great work

[@jen_wren_x]

Love these videos. Thanx 👍🏼

[@paulsckulz9030]

A very informative pod cast, Thank you.

[@shaunnewbedford736]

WoW One of the most terrifiying yet informative, interesting videos ive ever seen.......... plz keep it up and make more Ty

[@steby123]

Well put !

[@5avan10]

Best video you have done yet.

[@Paradoxicon999]

Well done video

[@Babarudra]

As to your final question, it's not pride, it's greed. There's no profit in fixing the problem.

[@shebbs1]

Babarudra Well sort of true, but we are all beneficiaries of that greed, or progress or whatever pejorative label suits you. You yourself must be, simply by virtue of using a computer, and the huge resource use, certainly by historial standards, that implies. It is easy to point to America, China, the West, developed nations and so on, but few of us can, or want to do much about it. This is even before one accounts for population growth, and the politics surrounding and mention of it. That said, I do find it amusing that most of the "priesthood" of the Global Warmin, oops, "Climate Change" faith, have more than 2 children, Al Gore and David Suzuki being but 2, yet preach to the rest of us about reducing procreation (but only preaching to Westerners) while hopping in their private jets to head home to their clutch of kiddies, who also love high-consumption lives of priviledge. As with Communism, it is a case of the leaders saying "do as I say, not as I do".

[@freshrot420]

@@shebbs1 Too true! Socialism is just Communism, but we get to elect our leaders, yet when they don't do what they say they're going to do to get elected, what's the difference?

[@nealramsey4439]

No profit in fixing it? Ask Al Gore, if you can catch him at one of his 6 homes or on his jet. I think there are plenty of people profiting. How about the hundreds of scientists that came to the consensus that live off of the billions that set out to prove global warming. That were by the way, given the directive to prove it. Pay me to prove something and I'll set up equipment near parking lots and AC units to prove it's warming too.

[@nealramsey4439]

How about doing your own research. The earth has been steadily warming since the end of the little ice age. People didn't farm in Greenland with the weather we have today so obviously it was warmer in the 15th century. It's far too complex of a system to say it's co2 alone. For all we know we may be slowing the onset of another ice age that is inevitable. That's if we are warming it at all. All we know for sure is we are releasing co2 but so does termites and volcanoes but that's never told by the numbers because it's hurts the argument. They like to throw out huge numbers to shock people into hysteria. One thing is for sure warmer is better than colder. Nearly half of Europe died during the little ice age, imagine what a full on ice age would do. Photosynthesis nearly shuts down at 200ppm of co2 we are at 400ppm. It's been 1200ppm and more without serious effect. Just because of the event they have in this video means nothing. They don't know what caused any of that die off. For all they know an asteroid hit the opposite side of the earth and caused that huge eruption. Just don't let these warnings worry ya. The earth has seen much worse than us ants scratching at the surface.

[@ryanruggero9957]

I love it when ignorance sounds off on deep questions like this. Its inspiring in way. Really illustrates how we need to invest more into education...

[@princessbuttercup8954]

I love that you don't just do a quick list of interesting facts and it shows the effort you put into researching the videos you make! Great job!

[@ASWilshire1]

Loved this video!

[@shanesawhutchison9255]

Well done...again! Cheers. 🇨🇦

[@toddlaramie8348]

I love this channel

[@t-lymphotropicosrs9492]

awesome job, I like how in depth everything was, you've earned a subscriber

[@aristotelispapageorgiou4627]

very nicely explained and accurate

[@globalinfluenceng234]

really love your channel. always looking forward to watching new insight here in Nigeria. proud of you my brother

[@Wetsleevesagain]

Flat earthers would say all the animals ran away from the volcano and fell off the ledge😛

[@zencat999]

if the earth were flat, cats would have knocked everything off it by now.

[@donjoy33]

zencat999 truth

[@estrois]

I'm not easy to get a like or subsciption out of. But most of the video and channels Simon paticipates on make me wish I could subscribe and like more than once. Thanks to the team, I feel like Wikipedia is being delivered to me in video with a fine British accent and large vocabulary.

[@nikolasthethief]

thank u for presenting

[@barrybrevik9178]

I think that this is a really great video, and I enjoyed it immensely! I am interested in this kind of thing, so perhaps I am a bit biased. Now, how about a video about the Human Population Bottleneck that supposedly happened 50,000 ~ 70,000 years ago!

[@katiobrien7854]

You guys are amazing!

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Kati OBrien Truer words have never been spoken!

[@13thcentury]

Love this vid

[@ashknoecklein]

Thank you for a sobering reminder of just what's at stake here.

[@nmarrs8539]

“A sort of a survive or die situation.” So like every other day.

[@ultrakingsslayerandsealer1967]

Well even though im a kid i still listen to this kinds of stuff

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Kian Samala These top 10 lists are the best!

[@TheAquarius1978]

Well, thats good, because the way things are going lol, you may never get to be an adult lololol.

[@t-lymphotropicosrs9492]

Faith in humanity slightly restored. +1

[@slappingguy6062]

Kian Samala I am a kid too, and your not special because of it

[@ericvondumb2838]

Be afraid, be very afraid!

[@marcopohl4875]

I'm currently researching this for a story I want to write set during the event

[@CrypticCharm]

you know, one day i would love to watch a documentary on the history of this planet. that doesn't end with "And we humans are all screwed" but great video anyway

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Cryptic Charm I know, right!?

[@imnotahippie22]

After watching this I'm going to think twice every time I let out a FART!

[@kennethpryde966]

Your ass is the source of all evil.

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Mike Hawk Who knew beans were such a problem?

[@TheAquarius1978]

Dont worry, cows fart methane, assuming that you are a human ( either that or a highly educated cow ), you only fart hidrogen.

[@krylissnorwind7528]

It's a wonder that we even made it this far. Just a few degrees one way or another means either life or no life.

[@casinodelonge]

Nice job. A Bad Day for the proto-dinosaurs.

[@ZosoZeus]

More of this kind of thing plz Simon!

[@stephanydiaz1702]

awesome videos

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Stephany Diaz These top 10 videos are the best!

[@SandyzSerious]

Thank you.

[@TreasureByMeasure]

SandyzSerious These top 10 videos are great, right?!

[@Raintiger88]

I would really like a transcript of this video, if possible. I'm a teacher in China and our planets ecosystem is something I talk about quite frequently. Thanks in advance!

[@AdiC87]

www.toptenz.net/top-10-apocalyptic-facts-earths-greatest-mass-extinction.php

[@AdiC87]

You're welcome. :)

[@Raintiger88]

Thanks to you all for the speedy replies!

[@megan5348]

I am ready

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Megan Jade It get's better

[@reina4969]

This is your best video yet!

[@muricamarine9473]

Reino B oh shut up ,

[@vonries]

I often wonder what it will take to wake people up. I have come to the conclusion that's it already to late.

[@andrewbaker2608]

If I'm not mistaken I recognize that picture at 4 minutes and 0 seconds it's mount redoubt in Cook Inlet Alaska I live there I remember when it went off pretty nuts I live near an oil refinery and thought they oral Refinery had gone off when I seen the mushroom cloud over the tree line

[@adambartlett114]

Alright Simon, time to stand behind your words. Are we so stubborn? You tell me... I can tell you how to save us all by fix the problems we have caused & stabilizing our impacts on everything around us. However, this won't work in a 1 person scale, it needs to be big but it's totally possible. For example, using algae biofuel to replace fossil fuels will stop further damage; teams spraying water over the various ice caps in combo with my algae production systems to shade & absorb solar energy will keep things stable enough to buy us enough time to continue bringing the overall environment back into balance. Naturally, this is just the tip of the iceberg & there's plenty more complicating factors but nothing that changes what we must do. This is just 1 piece of larger plans to rebuild our planet. For example, I've a plan to reverse existing desertification through combos of beavers building marshes/waterways, greenhouses, precipitation production, stabilization of natural/glacial water systems, etc. So what's my point? You can use your position to spur forward the change that we all know we must do. Adam

[@allensharp6876]

Adam Bartlett Hey Adam, you did notice that all of this climate change was natural didn’t you? None of this was caused by humans. There will always be climate change, sometimes catastrophic, whether we are here or not. So relax, we aren’t that important.

[@franreid8203]

Simon is georgous, beautiful speaker, captivating presentation, a real cutie.

[@cicad2007]

I take issue with what you said about this being the first time life can affect Earth's climate. Forget about the "Great Oxidation Event" also called the "Oxygen Catastrophe"? Caused by cyanobacteria (pond scum) virtually eliminating all archaea on the planet that was the primary life before the event?

[@jaywilliams9294]

life finds a way.

[@nzr3756]

It's so difficult to imagine the millions of years that make up the periods of Earth's time bc as humans ours is barely a blip in comparison. Yet, here we are, on the verge of causing the kind of planet wrecking impact only once capable by massive natural calamity!

[@GalaxyMagician]

I want Simon as my college professor!

[@jaredquinney204]

Interesting

[@KyuubiChupachaotica]

The Permian-Triassic mass extinction was caused by Chuck Norris time traveling backwards in time, passing a massively fat windy shart, and traveling back to the present.

[@113Branty]

do a video about the earth before the worlds plats had chlorophyll, when it was mostly giant pueplw plants.

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Mikey B I'd watch that!

[@TheRingDragon52]

Correction . When Sulphur Dioxide dissolves in water it produces Sulphurous Acid, not Sulphuric Acid. It takes Sulphur Trioxide to make Sulphuric Acid.

[@hetalianotaku7103]

So this is why Godzilla went into hibernation.

[@joecope9935]

Napoléon Bonaparte: brought into power by the eruption of Mt. Laki in Iceland in 1783, and taken out of power by the eruption of Mt. Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. 😕

[@jonathonsears6269]

I never noticed the music before and now I can't not hear it

[@UpcycleElectronics]

Get out the bicycles, put away the car keys.

[@kennethpryde966]

A much better idea than a carbon exchange.

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Upcycle Electronics No doubt! But, I wonder what the carbon exchange rate is to manufacture and maintenance a bicycle, plus growing the extra food needed to burn all the extra calories?

[@UpcycleElectronics]

Matthew The Great Coin Roll Hunter Not as bad as manufacturing a car or any other vehicle for that matter. Surprisingly your calories don't really go up that much unless your riding well over 30 miles a day. I spent 2010-2011 riding 63 miles round trip 5 days a week and another 80-100 on the weekend. Yes, it is possible, but it's hard to keep up 400 mile weeks. In Southern California it's possible because of the weather. I only needed around 3000-3500 calories a day. Processed foods will make you really sick with that kind of calorie demand, so you end up eating mostly whole foods that ultimately have a lower 'carbon exchange.' I had to go to powdered protein, so that has an impact, but I was mostly vegetarian at the time. I've actually gone 8 years without a daily driven commuter car now, but I'm also 3 years into disability from 2 cars crashing, then into me on a bike ride to work. So... it's still the wild west on a bike.

[@TreasureByMeasure]

It reminds me of when wind terbines were being pushed so hard until it was discovered that the carbon created from producing the concrete needed to erect them offset any potential gain from wind generated electricity. Ironic, really..

[@UpcycleElectronics]

youcanbikethere.com

[@RiftZM]

There's new evidence that suggests one of the factors which played a role as well, was the ignition of vast coal deposits. This was mentioned in one of "The Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey" episodes; S1E9 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth."

[@multiyapples]

Very saddening.

[@RoaringEgg]

Please make a 10 facts on the recovery of this extinction

[@shebbs1]

Andy Nguyen Ok, first, smart, surviving microbes discover that their waste is glorious alcohol...and things improve rapidly from thete! 😁😁😁🍺🍺🍺

[@the.amazing.spatterman]

Let's take care of this place!

[@dramaticyoyo4740]

did you place Mathew's pic in # 3 because he looks like you but with some extra hair

[@rogerholloway8498]

Wow! That's a big'n!

[@darknessviking]

i dont know why toptenz concentrate on so much suffering and pain, i think the owner is a bit of a nihilist ;) but well done videos

[@vexaris1890]

Besides, there's nothing wrong with being a Nihilist or Pessimist, for that matter.

[@maturetranny68patton79]

your channel does wonders, more than pbs or youtube may know.

[@TreasureByMeasure]

MatureTranny68 Patton Truer words have never been spoken!

[@Gay_Priest]

The Great Dying? I came here for the Great Oxidation

[@Pstephen9]

1 can only reply to this with mind blown!!!

[@unchainedwiththecapt]

This guy has been raiding Mr. Rogers closet.

[@mr.smithsgovermentclass4556]

15:54 - If it wasn't for his authoritative British Accent, I would have assumed he made those names up...

[@jdtsb8856]

Signed off early, I didn't need the lecture at the end.

[@thegreenbastard5171]

Simon Whistle To The Wheat Field

[@benskelly1217]

Already knew all of this.

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Ben Skelly And yet, powerless to stop it...

[@sharonasbury7698]

What was this about the French revolution? I've never heard that theory before.

[@jamesvaughan8355]

Siberian Traps. Shouldn't that be Siberian Death-Traps?

[@BrianH1313]

Apocalyptic in deed.

[@benquinney2]

Survival of the luckiest

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Ben Quinney Or the most reclusive?

[@Babarudra]

I feel fine.

[@apollion888]

99% of species are gone, not 99% of beings. I should hope 99.9999999999999% of freaking beings are gone

[@jtbfii]

I would say Scott Pruitt should watch this. But he thinks the earth is 3000 years old and is flat.

[@TreasureByMeasure]

John Fallon wierd

[@AifDaimon]

Pruitt is an ignorant idiot

[@ericvondumb2838]

Everybody knows it's 6000 years old! Cmon man, really!?

[@shebbs1]

Who? The Young Earth model currently used by ignorant loonies was certainly not invented by whomever Scott Pruitt might be.

[@sosa9754]

@@shebbs1 Nobody except for you said that. Learn to read please.

[@enri7575]

Remember: apocalypse means reawakening, in fact COVID is the apocalypse, so it already has happened in 2019

[@EverettOgden]

11:03 Is it just me or does Matthew Clarkson look like Simon Whistler with a tan and a wig???

[@patrickmccurry1563]

The oxygen catastrophe was much worse, but there's not a huge amount of physical remnants and no one cares about microbial deaths. :(

[@PSYbuse]

Simon. How come Henry's law doesn't work with CO2? Warmer ocean should release CO2, not dissolve it. Or have I got this all wrong?

[@SocietyOfTheLiftedLorax]

Why is KZbin feeding us context? Are we unable to think for ourselves anymore?

[@shadowgb]

And how do we knows these things?

[@williamgray8104]

top 10 ways to save the planet 10 above ground tunnels that turn airflow from vehicles into electricity 9 filter the airflow and use activated charcoal 8 flood the deserts with sea water and let nature change it to fresh water 7 use the heat in desert to create steam power the rest is up to someone else to figure out

[@sislertx]

Yes... ..but will the roaches survive?

[@theodoridi]

tell them, teach them, warn them......and then....

[@charliebrown5755]

Gloom dispare and agony on me!

[@MrPnhartley]

We are SO screwed!

[@1003JustinLaw]

Wait, methane is natural gas isn’t it? Well then, let’s heat up the water some more so we can harvest ALL that methane and get RICH!!

[@lillianfiona2413]

we are so screwed.

[@allsortsofmusicplaylists4026]

"Are we really that proud to put life in such a dangerous predicament?" While this question may have been rhetorical, I must say, yes, we are.

[@thomasmcclenan1776]

WHAT ABOUT THE RADIATION OF CHERNOBYL AND FUKUSHIMA ENDING US ALL

[@TreasureByMeasure]

Thomas McClenan Not worried about that. Not while McDonald's is still around...

[@ericvondumb2838]

And yet, your still here.

[@Aracne80]

Evilution?