OCTOBER 19, 2020

byHelmholtz Association of German Research Centres

https://phys.org/news/2020-10-driver-largest-mass-extinction-history.html

Life on Earth has a long, but also an extremely turbulent history. On more than one occasion, the majority of all species became extinct and an already highly developed biodiversity shrank to a minimum again, changing the course of evolution each time. The most extensive mass extinction took place about 252 million years ago. It marked the end of the Permian Epoch and the beginning of the Triassic Epoch. About three quarters of all land life and about 95 percent of life in the ocean disappeared within only a few thousand years.https://be97e6d78e436c0c5589e4883f9f8ac1.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

Gigantic volcanic activities in today’s Siberia and the release of large amounts of methane from the sea floor have been long debated as potential triggers of the Permian-Triassic extinction. But the exact cause and the sequence of events that led to the mass…

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BY JEFF BERARDELLI

OCTOBER 20, 2020 / 8:04 AM / CBS NEWShttps://www.cbsnews.com/embed/video/?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-wildfires-record-breaking-colorado/

The Cameron Peak fire, a few miles west of Fort Collins, Colorado, has engulfed over 200,000 acres and it’s still growing. It has now become the biggest wildlife in Colorado history.

What’s more astounding is that the Cameron Peak fire is the second fire in 2020 to hold the title of largest wildfire in Colorado history. ThePine Gulchfire near Grand Junction briefly held that title, but for only 7 weeks, having burned 139,000 acres in late summer.

Looking at this in a vacuum, you might think of it as mere coincidence. But zooming out, you need only look two states away in California to find evidence of more unprecedented fires.Six of the 7 largest wildfiresin California history haveall burned in 2020, andthe largest, the August Complex fire…

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/colorado-s-largest-ever-fire-brings-new-round-evacuations-n1243831?fbclid=IwAR1ZgD9ns0PiW4tz59Yka72iQoB5dJozzlfDWl8VZCKFDBXDX_JlYakp3ug

Warm temperatures and high winds have breathed new life into the Cameron Peak Fire, burning since Aug. 13.

The Cameron Peak Fire, the largest wildfire in Colorado’s history, burns outside Estes Park, Colo., on Oct. 16, 2020.Jim Urquhart / ReutersOct. 17, 2020, 2:48 PM PDTByDennis Romero

AColorado firethat’s been burning since mid-August flared up anew Saturday amid warm, dry weather and high winds, prompting new mandatory evacuations, authorities said.

The Cameron Peak Fire, the largest wildfire in state history, burned through 187,537 acres with 57 percent containment, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The blazewest of Fort Collinsthrived as gusty winds blew in ahead of a cold front.

The fire has been burning so deep into fall that it snowed more than once, halting progress temporarily but ultimately having little longterm impact, said Cass Cairns, a multi-agency spokeswoman for the incident.

“It dries out really…

Pete Thomas October 19, 2020 1:11 pm

A tour group in Yellowstone National Park on Friday experienced a “once-in-a-lifetime” sighting of a large grizzly bear being harassed by wolves.

The accompanyingfootage, captured by Adam Brubaker of theTied to Natureguide service, shows the large bear wandering across a meadow and suddenly realizing other critters were in its midst.

The bear stands on its hind legs as two wolves of theWapiti Lake Packappear in the foreground. Rather than turn back, the bear runs in the wolves’ direction.

One of four tourists in Brubaker’s group asks if the bear, by running, is trying to clear the wolves out of its territory.

ALSO ON FTW OUTDOORS: Record lake trout ‘a big deal’ for more than its size

The guide responds: “I think more than anything, he wants…