Scientists' warnings of the possibility of an imminent mass extinction due to climatic changes were reinforced by new scientific evidence, as a study by a team from the University of Southampton revealed that the mass extinction that struck our planet about 360 million years ago was due to erosion in the ozone layer due to a very high temperature in our planet.
What is like night to yesterday
According to this study, published in the journal "Science Adventures" on May 27 this year, this phenomenon has caused many marine animals, fish and plants that live in fresh water.
Those creatures were affected by the ultraviolet radiation that passed the degraded ozone layer, in a scenario that may be repeated in our days due to climatic changes and the lack of a complete recovery of the ozone layer.
The interesting thing about this study is that the deterioration of the ozone layer in that period - which was due to a very rapid and rapid rise in the temperature of our planet - came after an ice period, in a scenario - the authors say - that its beginnings are very similar to what happens today due to climate changes.
Many extinctions
Scientists count the many mass extinctions that struck our planet, the most important of which occurred 66 million years ago because of an asteroid that collided with the Earth and caused the extinction of dinosaurs, and three other extinctions occurred about 252 million years ago due to volcanic eruptions.
"The ozone shield that protects our planet from ultraviolet radiation has deteriorated for a short time," commented researcher John Marshall of the School of Marine Sciences at Southampton University in a statement via e-mail to the island. , Which makes us doubt that this will happen again today. "
Disagreement among scholars
The researcher added, "I think that there is a disagreement among scientists in the classification of the extinction waves that our planet has witnessed. When I started my career as a researcher, we counted two, and today there are those who believe that there are six waves, and there are those who say five waves, the important thing is that this is not a fixed reality, the research is still ongoing We can discover other waves. "
In their latest study, the researchers relied on rock samples collected from mountainous areas west of Greenland Island that previously formed a large lake, and other samples collected from the bottom of a lake in Bolivia.
The researchers recorded that the Arctic icebergs experienced solubility due to global warming, and they produced chemical gases that caused damage to the ozone layer.
This allowed the UV rays to pass for a period of thousands of years, destroying many living organisms, and only some trees and plants survived that could hardly adapt to the new situation, as well as a number of sharks and large fish that still exist today.
The researchers believe that what happened 360 million years ago could happen again, according to estimates by climate experts who expect a rise in temperatures over the coming centuries, and if the world does not take the necessary measures to mitigate greenhouse gases and combat their causes, our fate will be disastrous.