The Day The Earth Nearly Died
Encyclopedia
The Day The Earth Nearly Died is a British documentary produced by BBC
in 2002. The program focuses on the mystery of the Permian extinction, which scientists believe killed over 90% of all life on earth at the end of the Permian
, supposedly some 250 million years ago. The program features scientists like Adrian Jones, Vincent Courtillot
, Peter Ward
, Michael Benton
, Michael Rampino and others.
. This is proposed to have cause global warming, which in turn killed much of the life on land. Second, it warmed up the sea, which killed much of the marine life. As the sea became warmer, the ocean floor released a massive amount of methane
. As the methane reached the atmosphere
, the earth became even warmer, which led to the extinction of even more lifeforms on land. In the program, the extinction is argued to have lasted less than 1 million years.
, explaining that it is believed to be one of the few therapsids to survive the great extinction. It is said that this was important, as Lystrosaurus, according to the narrator, was ancestral to all mammals, even humans. The truth is that paleontologists do not regard any of the dicynodonts as ancestors to mammals.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 2002. The program focuses on the mystery of the Permian extinction, which scientists believe killed over 90% of all life on earth at the end of the Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
, supposedly some 250 million years ago. The program features scientists like Adrian Jones, Vincent Courtillot
Vincent Courtillot
Vincent E. Courtillot is a contemporary French geophysicist, prominent among the researchers who are critical of the hypothesis that impact events are a primary cause of mass extinction of life forms on the Earth...
, Peter Ward
Peter Ward
Peter Ward may refer to:*Peter Ward , retired English footballer, played for Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest...
, Michael Benton
Michael Benton
Michael J. Benton is a British paleontologist, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and professor of vertebrate palaeontology in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol....
, Michael Rampino and others.
Synopsis
The program features palaeontologists and other scientists as they try to find clues to the great extinction. In the program, it is argued that the Permian extinction came in 3 stages; the first was caused by volcanic activity in the great Siberian TrapsSiberian Traps
The Siberian Traps form a large region of volcanic rock, known as a large igneous province, in the Russian region of Siberia. The massive eruptive event which formed the traps, one of the largest known volcanic events of the last 500 million years of Earth's geological history, continued for...
. This is proposed to have cause global warming, which in turn killed much of the life on land. Second, it warmed up the sea, which killed much of the marine life. As the sea became warmer, the ocean floor released a massive amount of methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
. As the methane reached the atmosphere
Atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...
, the earth became even warmer, which led to the extinction of even more lifeforms on land. In the program, the extinction is argued to have lasted less than 1 million years.
Inaccuracies
Just at the end of the program, the narrator talk about the dicynodont LystrosaurusLystrosaurus
Lystrosaurus was a genus of Late Permian and Early Triassic Period dicynodont therapsids, which lived around 250 million years ago in what is now Antarctica, India, and South Africa...
, explaining that it is believed to be one of the few therapsids to survive the great extinction. It is said that this was important, as Lystrosaurus, according to the narrator, was ancestral to all mammals, even humans. The truth is that paleontologists do not regard any of the dicynodonts as ancestors to mammals.
External links
- Transcript of the program.
- The Day The Earth Nearly Died at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
.