- 288 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
In this vast sweep of our Earths history, Michael Benton brings the deep past to life as never before. Deploying the cutting-edge tools in biology, chemistry, physics and geology that are transforming our understanding of previous environmental cataclysms including the incredible new discovery of a hitherto unknown extinction event he uncovers not only their lethal effects but also the processes that brought about such large-scale destruction.
Beginning with the oldest extinction, Benton investigates the Late Ordovician, which set the evolution of the first animals on an entirely new course; the late Devonian, brought on by global warming; the cataclysmic End-Permian, which wiped out over 90 per cent of all life on Earth; and, book-ending the age of the dinosaurs, the newly discovered Carnian Pluvial Event and the End-Cretaceous asteroid. He examines how global warming, acid rain, ocean acidification, erupting volcanoes and meteorite impact have affected conditions on Earth, the drastic consequences for global ecology, and how life in turn survived, adapted and evolved.
This expert retelling of scientific breakthroughs allows us to link long-ago upheavals to our modern crises. As todays climate scientists and political leaders grapple to understand these processes and our planet enters the sixth great extinction, these insights from the past may hold the key to survival.
Beginning with the oldest extinction, Benton investigates the Late Ordovician, which set the evolution of the first animals on an entirely new course; the late Devonian, brought on by global warming; the cataclysmic End-Permian, which wiped out over 90 per cent of all life on Earth; and, book-ending the age of the dinosaurs, the newly discovered Carnian Pluvial Event and the End-Cretaceous asteroid. He examines how global warming, acid rain, ocean acidification, erupting volcanoes and meteorite impact have affected conditions on Earth, the drastic consequences for global ecology, and how life in turn survived, adapted and evolved.
This expert retelling of scientific breakthroughs allows us to link long-ago upheavals to our modern crises. As todays climate scientists and political leaders grapple to understand these processes and our planet enters the sixth great extinction, these insights from the past may hold the key to survival.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- About the Author
- Other titles of interest
- Contents
- Preface
- Part 1: Origins: 4,567–444 million years ago
- Part 2: Mid-Palaeozoic Events: 444–252 million years ago
- Part 3: The End-Permian Mass Extinction and Triassic Recovery: 252–237 million years ago
- Part 4: The Late Triassic to Jurassic: 237–145 million years ago
- Part 5: The Cretaceous to the End of the Eocene: 145–34 million years ago
- Part 6: The Oligocene to the Present Day: 34 million years ago–
- Timeline
- Bibliography
- Acknowledgments
- Sources of Illustrations
- Index
- Copyright
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Yes, you can access Extinctions by Michael J. Benton in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & Biology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.