Why Was the Great Dying So Bad?

The ending of the Permian Period marks the worst mass extinction event in the history of life - the Great Dying. But what made this extinction so severe?
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Sources:
www.nature.com/articles/s4301...
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s...
www.nature.com/articles/s4301...
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
royalsocietypublishing.org/do...
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
www.google.co.uk/books/editio...

[@proto-geek248]

I think the reason The Great Dying was so bad had a lot to do with all the dying.

[@cymraegpunk1420]

Wouldn't have been so bad without it for sure.

[@box2365]

💀

[@rinkibiswas3364]

I think the animals died in the great dying 🤔

[@davidgantenbein9362]

It would just have been „The Great“ without all the dying, sounds more like a good time, so I think your theory holds ground.

[@urekmazino6800]

Genius turn it into the professor now lol

[@hsdinoman2267]

We have since built museums to celebrate the past, and spend decades studying prehistoric lives. And if all this has taught us anything, it is this: no species lasts forever. -Kenneth Branagh

[@Alltime2050]

Unfortunately, too many of certain type of person uses that sentiment as an excuse to continue creating our own mass extinction event. They same to think it's normal.

[@realdaggerman105]

No species has ever been as narcissistic as us either, WE WILL LIVE FOREVER

[@hsdinoman2267]

@@realdaggerman105 dont think so, our narcissism will be our down fall

[@rynemcgriffin1752]

@@hsdinoman2267Well no because no other species is as amazing as us, hence we’re gonna live forever

[@hsdinoman2267]

@@rynemcgriffin1752 somebody seems to be high off their own gases

[@Chompchompyerded]

Thanks for making your paper available for us. I wish I could give it an honest grade, but I was a professor of music, not palaeontology, so I'll just satisfy myself with learning from it. Thanks also for making such a wonderful channel for us all to learn from and enjoy.

[@jeffthompson9622]

Thank you for sharing this content. It includes more detail about the Siberian Traps activity and timing of its consequences than I had previously encountered.

[@arkinyte13]

“Because it was so ugly, everyone died!!” ~Patrick Star

[@Tungdil_01]

The Permian extinction was sad of course. But if it never happened, the world would never see the more special organisms in the world's history: the dinosaurs.

[@vernonfridy8416]

Not to mention, “mammals” would probably look pretty different.

[@MrCrunch808]

@@vernonfridy8416 Probably alot more synapsid groups would continue to exist to this day.

[@vermillion8249]

@@MrCrunch808 If the K-Pg extinction still happens the Cenozoic would possibly be the age of reptiles.

[@UnwantedGhost1]

And humans who are literally the only species to remember what came long before us.

[@davidgantenbein9362]

@@UnwantedGhost1 It’s less „remembering“ and more investigating or figuring out.

[@katkath4996]

Thorough, clearly written and well researched. I give it an A .

[@gunsol900]

WHO THE FUCK IS YOU?!

[@basilbrushbooshieboosh5302]

Thank for covering the PETM, I've been hanging out for some good coverage to come along. And you guys did it. Cheers

[@SqwarkParrotSpittingFeathers]

Enjoyed that, entertaining and informative. An excellent combination.

[@GoodForYou4504]

Somehow, I am thinking your coursework for degree is going to be an A, if it is even half as good as your channel content, well disserved. Very well done to give prospective to the history of life VS. modern times. Good luck in your studies, but you will go far no matter what you pursue. 👍

[@Dr.Cosmar]

Well, they don't call it, "the great awesome period", do they? Last I checked, dying sucks.

[@biomuseum6645]

Death is actually kind of neutral, sometimes bad sometimes good

[@nikobellic570]

I think we're living through the great awesome period right now. Or great ok period

[@Martin-yh7vi]

​@@nikobellic570 Great for some of us but bad for other creatures. 😅

[@opposumness3107]

This is so cool! To be able to get hands on your newly published work is such a treat. I really dig* your channel, and even though I'm not in this field, I appreciate the love and care you have for science. Cheers from a musically educated paleontology enthusiast.

[@opposumness3107]

*that's right, you know exactly what I meant by that.

[@patora13]

Thank you for sharing. I really like your understandable explanations.

[@GojiGuru]

Another excellent video, Ben. I especially like that typically, you guys share new insights or research with a measure of modesty. What I mean to say is, too often paleo-themed YT channels, blogs, tweets, etc., will jump onto every new bit of research or hypothesis or theory and excitedly proclaim it as a new “truth” of discovery. Of course, such information may eventually come to be accepted to an assumed truth given the evidence, but science doesn’t deal with absolutes-it deals with falsification and probabilities. So, even though it might seem like a very insignificant detail, just using small words like “might,” “maybe”, “possibly”, “perhaps”, “could have”, etc., when speaking of the possible conclusions such evidence or research or hypothesis might lead to, helps to remind the viewer that not ever detail about every subject is always known for absolute certainty. (Hence the reason for continuous research!) That is simply the very nature of the historical sciences, and I much appreciate that you all generally are good about doing this. It’s important for the scientific process to be as transparent as possible for the general public, which helps to clear up a lot of misunderstandings as well as to explain exactly why and how we draw the many conclusions that we do. So, good job, lads! -A Paleontologist

[@patreekotime4578]

Yeah, there are WAYY too many "science" channels out there that are run by people who are scientifically illiterate. (And I include most science journalists in that desciption). But you dont have to have trained in the sciences to be scientifically literate... you just have to be able to review a paper and analyze the methodology. Is there a large enough sample size?if there is experimental data, how were the experiments constructed? was there a proper control? do the claims of the authors actually match the data they collected? how weak or strong is the hypothesis? are the results within the margin for error and therefore too weak to support the conclusion? Etc. And of course, like you said, the realization that science is a constantly unfolding revellation, not a dogmatic Truth... as well as the realization that nothing in science is taken as fact until the results have been independantly verified or reproduced. One paper doesnt change everything by itself.

[@GojiGuru]

@@patreekotime4578 yes, exactly. But these facts are either a) not known/understood by most people, even those interested in science, or b) such persons are too lazy/lacking the training in critical thinking to scrutinize the data. Just because something appears in a scientific paper doesn’t mean there is no misinformation in it or that the authors didn’t make any mistakes. That’s why science is a communal effort. No one person can know everything or change everything. Even so, many science enthusiasts (especially it seems those lovers of paleontology), sometimes act more like the “fans” of a movie/book/TV franchise, treating each new piece of data like a “leak” from the studio and speculating about the next film or season. The enthusiasm is appreciated, but we must approach science and fiction differently. How many YT videos are out there that called “What X dinosaur really sounded like” or “Allosaurus’ Sounds Reconstructed” or “new discovers turns the field on its head!” Besides the fact that no one can reconstruct the sound of an Allosaurus or that very rarely does a single discovery “rewrite history”, such videos give the false impression that we have everything figured out, that nothing is forever unknowable, or that science is a straightforward venture. Any reasonably modest person who has ever gone through proper scientific trainer or even just been very well read will tell you: the more you learn, the more you realize how little we actually know, how much more there must be to know, and that most everything-past, present, and future-will forever be unknowable. In other words, humility is essential for doing good science, and that goes for those reporting on the sciences as well.

[@petrairene]

Great detail info about this highly interesting period in earth history! Thanks!

[@Shujao]

First video of yours I'm seeing and I absolutely enjoyed it. Your voice is great for this and your articulation is superb. I look forward to watching more!

[@hollyodii5969]

This was an excellent video on a cool subject! And I can’t wait to see more about South Africa!

[@dukecity7688]

This is the best, most comprehensive explanation of the Great Dying I've ever heard. I usually have to watch at least twice to absorb everything. I'm slow. You are my favorite KZbin site.

[@rogerpartner2648]

Always enjoyed your channel. Great work.

[@billbridge7458]

Excellent episode!

[@a.e.jabbour5003]

Thanks a lot for this. It was definitely informative and fascinating. Excellent!

[@dennis_mihaylov]

I´ve definetely learned something new! It is a great video! Thank you so much.

[@loganskiwyse7823]

First time I have seen the information about the underlaying geological landscape prior to the formation of the traps. In a lot of ways this sounds like what would have become a major coal deposit explaining just how much carbon could have actually been released beyond just the volcanic events.

[@davidboyle1902]

Maybe because I’m saddened by the loss of so many animals throughout earth history, I find these presentations particularly interesting. The Great Dying is an event that deserves your level of focus. An excellent presentation.

[@alioramus1637]

Great job! Would have been nice if you included the capitanian extinction at the end of the middle permian. A lesser known extinction event during the permian.

[@emilye.8779]

What an incredible article. I’m doing my master’s currently right now, this paper totally looks like one I would cite in my own writing hahaha. Very well done

[@eyemallears2647]

You guys are awesome Restoring my faith in the youth!

[@davidgrech4574]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and your enthusiasm and I hope you know how much I appreciate your videos 👍🌎

[@sassa82]

Great video! Short and consice.

[@harronator-2670]

Because everyone died

[@biomuseum6645]

You stole me the joke xD

[@rursus8354]

Correction: because *_almost_* everyone died

[@wayne5553]

and why are you here then

[@whocares2214]

You have a good voice. Subbed....I fall asleep to these types of videos

[@aldenconsolver3428]

Good Job there, I can see your work in Africa doing you good. Now as an old-time geologist/planetary scientist, I do reserve the right to softly laugh at two digits after the years (251.48). Still, heck you guys might be getting close on that (its been close to 50 years since I did any straight-up geology, looks like you have been carrying on excellently). I would love to see you make a Siberian Traps series, I think that it has a lot to say. Once more, good job. Oh I was one of the contributors to your African studies, I think it was clearly money well spent.

[@matthewmorgan9269]

Nice work !

[@liamd9497]

Excellent video

[@bjh7924]

Really interesting video & best of luck with your degree - I'm sure you'll do great 👍🎓

[@bbbenj]

Very very interesting, bravo 👏

[@greensteve9307]

Linking your paper is a nice touch.

[@The_PokeSaurus]

OH God! History is repeating!

[@liam90210]

Thank you ❤

[@MrVeryfrost]

Awesome video

[@thereisnonebesideshim]

Love your channel and the great clarity and style of your presentation 😁 Where exactly in South Africa did you visit that boundary layer? I live in SA and need to plan a trip there! Looking forward to watching the SA series of videos 😊

[@Turnil321]

Great Dying: only mass extinction to really impact insects. Humans: hold my beer.

[@NawDawgTheRazor]

Fascinating!

[@Piperdogloveshats]

Great break down

[@rileyernst9086]

"I've stood on this boundry." Ben stood before the scene of carnage. Ash blanketed the landscape as UVR bombarded the earth through a destroyed ozone layer. Nothing stirred but the wind blowing streams of ash and cinder into the air. They were standing on aftermath of perhaps the most terrible event in the history of life on earth, it was awefilling and terrible at once. But heartening to know that no matter how bad it was now some things would persevere. Life would continue. Eye-patch Doug stepped up next to him throwing up clouds of volcanic ash with each step, skin greasy with sweat and sunscreen. "I love the smell of volcanic ash in the morning," Eyepatch Doug said through his respirator, he stopped for a moment considering the scene with satisfaction, "it smells like victory."

[@Fomites]

Great video with the implications for current possibilities for extinction due to human activity. Thank you.

[@nyft3352]

I rememeber telling my best friend about this event that he had no clue about, I barely showed him the wikipedia article and as he went through the various environmental changes, one by one his face turned from "whats this all about?" to outright "HOLY FUCK!", needless to say I couldn't stop laughing at that expression.

[@Bonjevalien]

Really enjoy hearing a truly interesting segment by namesake Ben G. Thomas and less of the stupidity of 7DOS

[@JohnPaul-yf9xd]

Great work. Aim High

[@Magmafrost13]

This is a little thing but it always bugs me, the Great Dying was the worst _Phanerozoic_ mass extinction. We dont really know what mass extinctions occurred in previous eons, or how bad they were (we can obviously infer a pretty bad one with the Great Oxygenation, for example), but that's like 7/8th of the history of life.

[@jamesaron1967]

The P-T event is undoubtedly the largest extinction since the evolution of multicellular life. That's what most people envision when mass extinctions are compared in severity. The Great Oxidation Event caused a massive extinction although few people excluding scientists know about it.

[@babyboomercritic1119]

Thank you.

[@_TheCollective]

Life had experienced mass exctions before but those exctions were largely unicellular. This was just the first time that larger animals were put through the grinder. Everything after couldn't be as severe cos by definition they were the survivors of that great dying

[@anngo4140]

Ben looks like he comes straight out of a Nolan movie. Which is cool!

[@johndole9810]

You should do a video on oceanic acidification.

[@LDrosophila]

Wow the loss of insects is scary as that is occuring today

[@sheila3348]

Man. That’s a tough time.

[@Digmen1]

I used to like Paleontolgy many years ago when I was young. But it all got too complicated for me Good video

[@akaroth7542]

Wouldn't say that: just doesn't get explained step-by-step well. Hard to dig into a topic when you're focused on work/survival. Don't assume you're unable to learn it, just a matter of time needed.

[@strangevision99]

Took me a minute to work out what the title meant. Good video anyway.

[@prototropo]

Great video. Proxies are important tools in medical diagnoses and epidemiology, as well.

[@UnwantedGhost1]

You should make a video on the sixth mass extinction event that's still ongoing today.

[@nicksievers1664]

What’s up with that giant impact crater in Antarctica that was dated to 250 mya?

[@Indy44636]

The great dying is a cautinary tale . Of how mass eruptions can occurr and theres sometimes no warning

[@stuffystuffsityas6302]

You’re actually so cute Ben best of luck with your further studies and career ❤

[@Infernoraptor]

Can someone explain the part about only 2 mass extinctions effected plants and only 1 severely impacted insects? Is this the consensus view, or is this the only a "based on the limited fossil record"? Or were there actually a bunch of large insects familys that died out during the PT extinction?

[@jessehunter362]

9 or 10 orders went entirely extinct, 10 were greatly reduced in diversity, we’ve seen no other loss in insect diversity near that scale.

[@437cosimo]

Very interesting.

[@thinking_toomuch]

the grade I would give you is G, for a great job😁

[@thesjkexperience]

Thanks, I studied this 30 years ago and there was so little known about any of this and it was also fashionable to have asteroids do all the mass extinctions as well lol.

[@Momcat_maggiefelinefan]

Thank you very much for this video! The best clear and comprehensive explanations for this earth changing event. I always enjoy your presentations. Please, carry on explaining. 🇨🇦🖖🏻🇨🇦

[@osmosisjones4912]

Was it slower or maybe temperature shift so fast in geologic history it's hard pick out

[@imperialguardproductions]

I first learned about the Great Dying from the Walking With Monsters documentary.

[@fabianbuenrostro7425]

This man’s jawline can cut diamonds

[@akaroth7542]

It would be mind-shattering to see the extinction. I don't think I'd be able to handle the visuals of it. The skies would be terrifying

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

Haha when you work hard on an assignment and realize only 1 other person will see it... It's good to have an appreciative audience!

[@klunni6834]

The question answers itself

[@kaltneta6704]

Knowing how much died back then is haunting.

[@dangerousdays2052]

We're currently in the greatest mass extinction in history.

[@roachdoggjr1940]

Without watching any of this, I gotta say that this video has a magnificent title. Like, "huh... The Great Dying? Bad? No way!"

[@alexbowman7582]

Was the eruption caused by a rising plume of hot magma or by a massive object from space punching a huge hole in the crust?

[@sekritengineeringprojekt2101]

This is so insanely important. I get a feeling that the cosmic web shockwaves and gravitational waves are the culprits and also the position of the solar system inside the galaxy may have placed the earth in a higher energy space which caused the increases in temperature that lead to this since earth and the solar system move sinusoidally through the galaxy. I can't prove any of what I wrote here, but we'll see if it's true when the e-lisa gravitational array goes up.

[@Vicus_of_Utrecht]

Nikilov & Zeller 2017 already explained how planetary climate works.

[@a5cent]

Mind sharing some of whatever you're smoking? 😅

[@Decodedvirus]

Ye the blue meth really hits hard

[@akaroth7542]

Oof

[@friedrichjunzt]

Next: "is unbearable, excruciating pain really that painful?"

[@KKloeps]

Why have I been bricked up since watching this video 2 days ago

[@thomasperri5316]

Great video, very informative.

[@peterolbrisch8970]

I'm going to take a wild guess here, because lots of things died. And dying really messed you up. It messes you up so bad that when you finish dying, you are now dead. And that's messed up.

[@FlyingRazzo]

What was the first mass extinction of plants? The end of carboniferous? or the K-Pg?

[@charoleawood]

Which forms lived through this and how did they survive? Also, showing Siberia as it exists today and the extent of the Large Igneous Provence sure is useful, but this video also needed to show the LIP as it related to Pangea, the shape the continents were in at the time of the "great dying".

[@rickkwitkoski1976]

Ummm... Early pre-mammals, obviously. And many others that are just taken as "normal" today.

[@charoleawood]

@@rickkwitkoski1976 And how did they survive?

[@jzardanimations6246]

Can you please make a review of episode 5 of walking with dinosaurs please

[@pukulu]

I suppose that the sheer size of the Siberian trappes contributed to the Permian-Triassic extinction. The igneous province was gigantic, considerably larger than the Deccan trappes, which was also quite large. The size of the trappes is probably proportional to the length of time of the volcanic activity, or at least that is a worthwhile conjecture.

[@sebastianbroscheyoga]

I want Hollywood videos that base the script on events like the great dying. replacing animals with humans, speeding time up by 20000x, but keeping the order and implication of the events. I'd go back to school to watch that!

[@TheMarauderOfficial]

what is it with Tunguska??

[@neddyladdy]

How many horses are in this race ?

[@johnnysheen9615]

I think that`s the first time i`ve heard mentioned. That the Ozone Layer collapsed.

[@conspiracytherapist1869]

Let’s see some receipts pal!

[@legendofloki665i9]

Second only to the great oxigenation extinction event, though infinitely more spectacular.

[@iplayeddsharpminor]

1:57 - “No doubt this was a terrible time to be alive”. 2020s: hold my beer

[@ColdHawk]

04:00 That is hysterical. “Evaporite” is a term my 7 year old would come up with while chattering away about a topic where he has actually memorized only half of the factual information he wants to convey that he knows.

[@Deailon]

That is what makes it a perfect name: even a child can get, what it means.

[@raycavazos8927]

LSP (Lumpy Space Princess) >LIP Edit: jokes aside, stellar video mate.

[@xAlphaTrotx]

7:10 - was the Lamprey feasting on the sharks EYE really necessary for that artist? Jeez

[@gushutchinson8758]

I was taught the oxygen die off was the biggest extinction in terms of biomass and percentage of, "species" lost... Mainly single celled so boring?

[@biomuseum6645]

Guys, I think Ben referred to “how” not that much “why” the great dying was bad

[@stevenschnepp576]

Did you miss the part about the geology involved?

[@TyrannosaurusRex5027]

Why was the great dying so bad? I suppose if it wasn't that bad it would be the "mediocre dying" or perhaps the "average dying" instead of "the great dying"

[@fede98k54]

The Mild Living, perphaps?

[@BIackstrength]

Has the "clathrate gun" hypothesis been invalidated for the Permian extinction ? I heard it could be responsible for increasing the global warming during the second part of the extinction event ?