Meaning of mass extinction event | Babel Free

Definitions

One of five historical events in which the Earth experienced a loss of ∼75% of all species over a geological interval of less than 3 million years, the most recent being the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago.

Examples

“Joab is a two-mooned habitable planet that is most well known for its mass extinction event. Thousands of years ago, Joab was home to a primate-like spacefaring civilization as well as abundant flora and fauna. However, this can only be deduced from time capsules put into the ground well outside habitation centers -- all cities and detectable dwellings were targeted in a massive orbital bombardment that turned them into vapor. The resulting dust shroud killed all photosynthetic life and all fauna dependent on it.”

““As a utopia, it’s a very low bar,” Robinson said. “I mean, if we avoid the mass extinction event, we avoid everything dying, great, that’s utopia, given where we are now.””

CEFR level