Under a green sky : global warming, the mass extinctions of the past, and what they mean for our future /
More than 200 million years ago, a cataclysm known as the Permian extinction destroyed nearly 97 percent of all living things. Its origins have long been a puzzle. Paleontologist Ward, fresh from helping prove that an asteroid had killed the dinosaurs, turned to the Permian problem, and he has come...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
Smithsonian Books/Collins,
2007.
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| Edition: | 1st Smithsonian Books ed. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | More than 200 million years ago, a cataclysm known as the Permian extinction destroyed nearly 97 percent of all living things. Its origins have long been a puzzle. Paleontologist Ward, fresh from helping prove that an asteroid had killed the dinosaurs, turned to the Permian problem, and he has come to a stunning conclusion: that the near-total devastation at the end of the Permian period was caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide leading to climate change. The story of the discovery makes for a globe-spanning adventure. Here, Ward explains how the Permian extinction as well as four others happened, and describes the freakish oceans--belching poisonous gas--and sky--slightly green and always hazy--that would have attended them. Those ancient upheavals demonstrate that the threat of climate change cannot be ignored, lest the world's life today--ourselves included--face the same dire fate.--From publisher description. |
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| Physical Description: | xiv, 242 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780061137914 006113791X |