From the February 2008 issue

What killed almost everything?

Scientists can choose from a growing menu of proposed causes for the end-Permian extinction. Here are the leading contenders.
By | Published: February 21, 2008 | Last updated on May 18, 2023
What caused the Great Dying? Though far from a consensus view, an emerging hypothesis does account for many lines of geological and fossil evidence. This explanation includes the effects of super-eruptions, methane hydrates, the greenhouse effect, and oceanic anoxia.