The Universe Exists for My Amusement

Here’s a perfect example of how to get publicity: Find a new environmental reason for extinction of the dinosaurs, and then project it to the extinction of mankind.

Green is the new red.

Clemson researchers say algae the key cause of mass extinctions.

Algae, not asteroids, were the key to the end of the dinosaurs, say two Clemson University researchers. Geologist James W. Castle and ecotoxicologist John H. Rodgers have published findings that toxin-producing algae were a deadly factor in mass extinctions millions of years ago.

The research not only provides new insights into the past but also offers a caution about the future. The scientists say that current environmental conditions show significant similarity to times when previous mass extinctions occurred.

Castle is presenting the research results at the Geological Society of America meeting in Portland, Ore. He and Rodgers have spent two years analyzing data from ancient algal deposits — stromatolite structures — finding evidence that blue-green algae, which produce poisons and deplete oxygen, were present in sufficient quantities to kill off untold numbers of plants and animals living on land or in the sea.