--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It’s] pretty clear that times of high…" description: "\"“It’s] pretty clear that times of high carbon dioxide—and especially times when carbon dioxide levels rapidly rose—coincided with the mass extinctions,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/peter-brannen-44487_carbon-dioxide_it-s-pretty-clear-that-times-of-high-car_265397.jpg" --- # It’s\] pretty clear that times of high carbon dioxide—and… ![“It’s] pretty clear that times of high carbon dioxide—and especially times when carbon dioxide levels rapidly rose—coincided with the mass extinctions,” writes University of Washington paleontologist and End-Permian mass extinction expert Peter Ward. “Here is the driver of extinction.” quote by Peter Brannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/peter-brannen-44487_carbon-dioxide_it-s-pretty-clear-that-times-of-high-car_265397.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/peter-brannen-44487_carbon-dioxide_it-s-pretty-clear-that-times-of-high-car_265397.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/peter-brannen-44487_carbon-dioxide_it-s-pretty-clear-that-times-of-high-car_265397.jpg) > ““It’s\] pretty clear that times of high carbon dioxide—and especially times when carbon dioxide levels rapidly rose—coincided with the mass extinctions,” writes University of Washington paleontologist and End-Permian mass extinction expert Peter Ward. “Here is the driver of extinction.”” [Peter Brannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. High CO₂ periods often align with mass extinctions, suggesting rapid carbon spikes drive biodiversity loss. **In simple terms:** Carbon spikes link to extinctions. Key Takeaway Monitor and curb CO₂ emissions. Themes environment extinction climate science history Mood concerned urgent Type scientific educational When to use this quote - policy making - educational curricula - public awareness campaigns Key Concepts carbon cycle mass extinction anthropogenic impact Questions to Reflect On - How can societies reduce rapid CO₂ spikes? - What safeguards can prevent future extinctions? A Different Perspective Human activity can also cause extinctions, not just natural cycles. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carbon dioxide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon-dioxide/) [Extinction Expert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction-expert-2607074/) [Extinctions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinctions-588625/) [Extinctions Writes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinctions-writes-2607075/) [Mass extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass-extinction/) [Mass Extinctions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass-extinctions-712586/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [With respect to phenomena like mass extinction, somebody might say why worry about it because in a geological perspective mass extinctions aren't so bad,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/with-respect-to-phenomena-like-mass-extinction-somebody-might-say-why/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [Mass extinctions may not threaten distant futures, but they are decidedly unpleasant for species caught up in the throes of their power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/mass-extinctions-may-not-threaten-distant-futures-but-they-are/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [In the history of the world, all five mass extinctions have been accompanied by massive climate change, so we are facing an incredibly serious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-russell/in-the-history-of-the-world-all-five-mass-extinctions-have-been/) [Cameron Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-russell/) > [“Another expert, David Jablonski, characterizes mass extinctions as “substantial biodiversity losses” that occur rapidly and are “global in extent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/another-expert-david-jablonski-characterizes-mass-extinctions-as/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [We tell our children they're trapped like rats on a doomed, bankrupt, gangster-haunted planet with dwindling resources, with nothing to look forward to but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/we-tell-our-children-they-re-trapped-like-rats-on-a-doomed-bankrupt/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [“Recent studies funded by Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council provide support for those concerns. (Thomas, et al, 2004; Stevens, et al, 2004) While there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-h-lipton/recent-studies-funded-by-britain-s-natural-environment-research/) [Bruce H. Lipton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-h-lipton/) > [The extinctions ongoing worldwide promise to be at least as great as the mass extinction that occurred at the end of the age of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-extinctions-ongoing-worldwide-promise-to-be-at-least-as-great-as/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [“The epitaph for humanity does not yet have to include the tragic indictment of having engineered the sixth major mass extinction in earth history.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/the-epitaph-for-humanity-does-not-yet-have-to-include-the-tragic/) [Peter Brannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/) > [“Don’t believe tree-huggers who claim that our ancestors lived in harmony with nature. Long before the Industrial Revolution, Homo sapiens held the record among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/don-t-believe-tree-huggers-who-claim-that-our-ancestors-lived-in/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“In ordinary times—times here understood to mean whole geologic epochs—extinction takes place only very rarely, more rarely even than speciation, and it occurs at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/in-ordinary-times-times-here-understood-to-mean-whole-geologic-epochs/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [It saddens me that in the 21st century, with all our knowledge and power, we are hearing more and more stories of possible extinctions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gisele-bundchen/it-saddens-me-that-in-the-21st-century-with-all-our-knowledge-and/) [Gisele Bundchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gisele-bundchen/) > [“The romantic contrast between modern industry that “destroys nature” and our ancestors who “lived in harmony with nature” is groundless. Long before the Industrial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-romantic-contrast-between-modern-industry-that-destroys-nature/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Intent on their small extinctions, they are ignorant of the greater death going on all around them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-haley/intent-on-their-small-extinctions-they-are-ignorant-of-the-greater/) [Guy Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-haley/) > [The more we heat up the planet, the more it costs all of us, not just in money, but in colossal famines, displacements, deaths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/the-more-we-heat-up-the-planet-the-more-it-costs-all-of-us-not-just/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [Often extinctions in the ocean occur at the same time as those on land. Then again, the ice age extinctions lost many big animals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-t-bakker/often-extinctions-in-the-ocean-occur-at-the-same-time-as-those-on/) [Robert T. Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-t-bakker/) ## More by Peter Brannen > [“While the Texas oil economy relies on the truth of geology, many of its inhabitants remain stubbornly resistant to its charms.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/while-the-texas-oil-economy-relies-on-the-truth-of-geology-many-of/) [Peter Brannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/) > [“humans—the ultimate invasive species.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/humans-the-ultimate-invasive-species/) [Peter Brannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/) > [“And the dizzying arsenal of our modern technology is a leap in innovation perhaps matched in the entire history of life only by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/and-the-dizzying-arsenal-of-our-modern-technology-is-a-leap-in/) [Peter Brannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/) > [“That our age is thought to be less epic than those worlds on offer at natural history museums is only an illusion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/that-our-age-is-thought-to-be-less-epic-than-those-worlds-on-offer-at/) [Peter Brannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/) > [“The epitaph for humanity does not yet have to include the tragic indictment of having engineered the sixth major mass extinction in earth history.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/the-epitaph-for-humanity-does-not-yet-have-to-include-the-tragic/) [Peter Brannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/) > [“When you put a log on the fire, the light and heat you see is, in a literal sense, the decades of sunshine that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/when-you-put-a-log-on-the-fire-the-light-and-heat-you-see-is-in-a/) [Peter Brannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/) > [“Animal life has been all but destroyed in sudden, planetwide exterminations five times in Earth's history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/animal-life-has-been-all-but-destroyed-in-sudden-planetwide/) [Peter Brannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/) > [“As should be clear by now, perhaps no national project has had more of an incidentally beneficial effect on science than the Interstate Highway…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/as-should-be-clear-by-now-perhaps-no-national-project-has-had-more-of/) [Peter Brannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/) [Explore all 9 Peter Brannen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/) ## More Carbon dioxide quotes > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [Breathing is give(carbon dioxide) and take(oxygen), such is life, find balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-williams/breathing-is-give-carbon-dioxide-and-take-oxygen-such-is-life-find/) [Marcel Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-williams/) > [We have to slow down the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane from coal burning, oil and eventually natural gas... And the best ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramez-naam/we-have-to-slow-down-the-emissions-of-carbon-dioxide-and-methane-from/) [Ramez Naam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramez-naam/) > [Whether carbon dioxide is quite the environmental villain that some people make it out to be is not yet proven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-abbott/whether-carbon-dioxide-is-quite-the-environmental-villain-that-some/) [Tony Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-abbott/) > [As we pump greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, making the seawater acidic and hostile for shellfish and corals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-gardiner/as-we-pump-greenhouse-gases-into-our-atmosphere-the-ocean-absorbs/) [Barry Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-gardiner/) > [ \[The doctrine of air\] I was led into in consequence of inhabiting a house adjoining to a public brewery, where I at first amused… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-priestley/the-doctrine-of-air-i-was-led-into-in-consequence-of-inhabiting-a/) [Joseph Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-priestley/) > [“The discovery of an interaction among the four hemes made it obvious that they must be touching, but in science what is obvious is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-discovery-of-an-interaction-among-the-four-hemes-made-it-obvious/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The instrument Keeling built, the gas chromatograph, works by passing infrared (IR) light through a sample of air and measuring the amount of IR…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-cullen/the-instrument-keeling-built-the-gas-chromatograph-works-by-passing/) [Heidi Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-cullen/) > [If food was no longer obliged to make intercontinental journeys, but stayed part of a system in which it can be consumed over short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-petrini/if-food-was-no-longer-obliged-to-make-intercontinental-journeys-but/) [Carlo Petrini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-petrini/) > [I know that nuclear is better than fossil fuels when it comes to carbon dioxide, but nuclear energy is by no means clean. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-crow/i-know-that-nuclear-is-better-than-fossil-fuels-when-it-comes-to/) [Sheryl Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-crow/) > [Centuries-old habitats such as coral gardens are destroyed in an instant by bottom trawls, pulverized by weighted nets into barren plains. And global carbon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-danson/centuries-old-habitats-such-as-coral-gardens-are-destroyed-in-an/) [Ted Danson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-danson/) > [Now, we put out a lot of carbon dioxide every year, over 26 billion tons. For each American, it's about 20 tons. For people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/now-we-put-out-a-lot-of-carbon-dioxide-every-year-over-26-billion/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Plate tectonics is not all havoc and destruction. The slow movement of continents and ocean floors recycles carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/plate-tectonics-is-not-all-havoc-and-destruction-the-slow-movement-of/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Carbon dioxide pollution is transforming the chemistry of the ocean, rapidly making the water more acidic. In decades, rising ocean acidity may challenge life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigourney-weaver/carbon-dioxide-pollution-is-transforming-the-chemistry-of-the-ocean/) [Sigourney Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigourney-weaver/) > [It’s time to move the debate past the dogmatic view that carbon dioxide is evil and toward a world view that accepts the need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bryce/it-s-time-to-move-the-debate-past-the-dogmatic-view-that-carbon/) [Robert Bryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bryce/) [Browse all 263 Carbon dioxide quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon-dioxide/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It’s] pretty clear that times of high carbon dioxide—and especially times when carbon dioxide levels rapidly rose—coincided with the mass extinctions,” writes University of Washington paleontologist and End-Permian mass extinction expert Peter Ward. “Here is the driver of extinction.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Brannen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/it-s-pretty-clear-that-times-of-high-carbon-dioxide-and-especially/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Carbon dioxide" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/it-s-pretty-clear-that-times-of-high-carbon-dioxide-and-especially/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/peter-brannen-44487_carbon-dioxide_it-s-pretty-clear-that-times-of-high-car_265397.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/peter-brannen-44487_carbon-dioxide_it-s-pretty-clear-that-times-of-high-car_265397.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/peter-brannen-44487_carbon-dioxide_it-s-pretty-clear-that-times-of-high-car_265397.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It’s] pretty clear that times of high carbon dioxide—and especially times when carbon dioxide levels rapidly…” — Peter Brannen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Peter Brannen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It’s] pretty clear that times of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/it-s-pretty-clear-that-times-of-high-carbon-dioxide-and-especially/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/it-s-pretty-clear-that-times-of-high-carbon-dioxide-and-especially/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```