The planet Earth in its existence has seen repeated upheaval with life forms disappearing each time an ice age or warmer ear came and went. Fossil remains from close to 252 million years ago show that close to 90% of the species alive on earth at that time were wiped out. This is one of the five largest mass extinctions that the planet has seen and is called the end Permian extinction.

All kinds of theories have been brought forth and speculated upon to find out the reason for this extinction. Researchers at MIT now claim to have pinpointed the culprit behind this phenomenon, but you will need your microscope to see them. It seems that microbes rather than asteroids attacks, volcanoes or coal fires were responsible for this massive loss of life.

The methane producing archaea called  Methanosarcina rapidly multiplied in oceans and threw out huge quantities of methane into the atmosphere.  This changed the chemistry of the oceans and the climate above, leading to the mass extinction. The excessive amounts of carbon dioxide in the air was unsuitable for life then present on earth.

What could not adapt to survive perished. Such is the nature of the world even today. Although we try to take care of our environment, human activities may be the reason for the next mass extinction on the planet. Perhaps we need to conduct a science experiment to see just how prepared we are to save the planet.