Earth Took 10 Million Years to Recover From Mass Extinction
The Earth's greatest mass extinction, 250 million years ago, was so severe that it took 10 million years for the planet to recover. Life was nearly wiped out, with only 10% of plants and animals surviving. And the sheer intensity of the crisis, and continuing grim conditions on Earth after the first wave of extinction, meant the bounce-back was very slow.
The end-Permian crisis was triggered by a number of physical environmental shocks - global warming, acid rain, ocean acidification and ocean anoxia - and killed off 90% of living things on land and in the sea. The grim conditions continued in waves for five or six million years, with carbon and oxygen crises, warming and other ill effects.
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