The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions

Part road trip, part history, and part cautionary tale, The Ends of the World takes us on a tour of the ways that our planet has clawed itself back from the grave and casts our future in a completely new light.. Using the visible clues these devastations have left behind in the fossil record, The Ends of the World takes us inside "scenes of the crime", from South Africa to the New York Palisades, to tell the story of each extinction. Brannen examines the fossil record - which is rife with creatures like dragonflies the size of sea gulls and guillotine-mouthed fish - and introduces us to the researchers on the front lines who, using the forensic tools of modern science, are piecing together what really happened at the crime scenes of the Earth's biggest whodunits. As new groundbreaking research suggests that climate change played a major role in the most extreme catastrophes in the planet's history, award-winning science journalist Peter Brannen takes us on a wild ride through the planet's five mass extinctions and, in the process, offers us a glimpse of our increasingly dangerous future. Many scientists now believe that the climate shifts of the 21st century have analogs in these five extinctions. Our world has ended five times: It has been broiled, frozen, poison gassed, smothered, and pelted by asteroids. In The Ends of the World, Peter Brannen dives into deep time, exploring Earth's past dead e

Red Fabbri said This makes science as exciting as it was when you were a kid. You won't find someone who can take such a dense and intimidating topic like Mass Extinctions and make it such a fun and ravenous read quite like Peter Brannen.. Amazon Customer said Captivating. Despite the subject matter, The Ends of. Captivating. Despite the subject matter, The Ends of the World is one of the most enjoyable pieces of non-fiction I have read in quite some time. A must read for anyone who has an interest in the history and the future of the planet we call home.. David Wineberg said Vivid, stunning and disturbing. The five mass extinctions are a cliché. We actually have no understanding of what really happened. Peter Brannen has written a remarkable and extremely readable book (his first) to fill in the voids. The result is thought-provoking, gripping, and more than a little worrisome. It might be clear insight, but it makes