An overview of the connection between Earth’s climate evolution and mass extinction events

Abstract

Authors present a brief review of the potential impact of climate change on biodiversity throughout the history of the Earth. Studying paleoclimate is difficult because it uses proxies that occurred millions of years ago, and there is an intrinsic uncertainty associated with that. However, the climate of the past and the evolution of life itself are related to each other. The current discussion goes through the different geological eras, emphasizing the Phanerozoic Eon, where terrestrial conditions allowed life to flourish. Recent studies seem to support the argument that the five great mass extinctions are related to warm climate modes produced by intense volcanism that generate changes in the concentrations of greenhouse gases and marine anoxia. This should be one more alert for humanity to implement effective measures to counteract the current global warming trend before the consequences on ecosystems are more serious.