Scientists believe there have been five mass extinction events on Earth over the past 540 million-odd years, the latest being just 250 million years ago, which wiped out 95 percent of all life on the planet.

Understanding the causes that led to these events are crucial, especially seeing as those same scientists believe we’re headed for another mass extinction very soon.
A new paper published in Science Advances suggests that a mass extinction event, similar to ones our planet has undergone in the past, is imminent, and all because we can’t stop polluting the planet.

Every one of these past events has occurred at a time when the Earth’s carbon cycle was interr