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    Short WaveWhy Some Species Survive Mass Extinctions
    11 minEpisode 1373

    Why Some Species Survive Mass Extinctions

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    Around 250 million years ago, one of Earth’s largest known volcanic events set off The Great Dying: the planet’s worst mass extinction event. The eruptions spewed large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, temperatures rose globally and oxygen in the oceans dropped.

    And while the vast majority of species went extinct, some survived. Scientists like paleophysiology graduate student Kemi Ashing-Giwa want to know why, because lessons about the survivors of The Great Dying could inform today’s scientists on how to curb extinctions today.

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    © NPRLength 11 min5 November 2025Episode 1373ScienceFactsEducationalUSAEpisodic

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    Introducing Short Wave

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    11+ScienceFactsEducationalUSAEpisodic5 November 2025© NPR

    Around 250 million years ago, one of Earth’s largest known volcanic events set off The Great Dying: the planet’s worst mass extinction event. The eruptions spewed large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, temperatures rose globally and oxygen in the oceans dropped.

    And while the vast majority of species went extinct, some survived. Scientists like paleophysiology graduate student Kemi Ashing-Giwa want to know why, because lessons about the survivors of The Great Dying could inform today’s scientists on how to curb extinctions today.

    Interested in more Earth science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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