Permian Extinction: 250 mya

250 million years ago the Permian mass extinction elminated over 90 percent of all species. It was the most devastating of all the mass extinctions. Its causes are still debated. It may be due to glaciation as per the previous two mass extinctions or perhaps the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth's history which occured 250 mya in the Siberian Traps, which today cover the size or western Europe. These massive emmissions of ash and gas would have had devastating consequences for the global climate, including blocking sunlight and cooling the planet causing large scale glaciation.