• Question: Do you think that there will be another Mass Extinction, like the 65 million years ago?

    Asked by lauramaacd to David, Luna, Mark, Melanie, Probash on 21 Mar 2011 in Categories: . This question was also asked by kathanhal.
    • Photo: Luna Munoz

      Luna Munoz answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Yes, I do. There have been many (maybe 5 or 6) mass extinctions throughout the hundreds of millions of years that life has existed on Earth. These extinctions bring new creatures in the form of evolution. For example, after the extinction of the dinosaurs, mammals were able to take over much of the planet.

    • Photo: Melanie Stefan

      Melanie Stefan answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Yes, at some point there will be.

    • Photo: David Pyle

      David Pyle answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Yes, but not necessarily due to an asteroid impact. In the past 500 million years, there have been 5 major mass extinctions, and many smaller ones. One (at 65 million years) may have been caused by an impact; another (at 250 million years) may have been caused by huge burst of volcanism – but in each case there are a number of factors which may have been responsible.

      Some people argue that we are heading towards a mass extinction at the moment, as humans modify the planet, causing many species of animals and plants to become extinct as they do so.. Whether this is the case, or not, mass extinctions seem to be a part of the way that life on earth works, and so I expect that there will be more.

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