Scientists are working to understand the causes and sequence of events of the LPME, focusing on mercury from Siberian volcanoes found in deposits in Australia and South Africa.

The last mass extinction of life during the Permian period (Latest Permian Mass Extinction, LPME) was the largest in Earth's history to date, wiping out 80-90% of life on the planet, yet experts have not managed to find precise evidence of what triggered the drastic climate changes.

An international team of scientists sought to understand the causes and sequence of events of the LPME by focusing on mercury from Siberian volcanoes that once ended up in, and has now been found in, deposits in Australia and South Africa. The study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Although the LPME occurred more than 250 million years ago, this process shows similarities to the major climate changes occurring today.

The study is important for understanding what might happen on Earth in the future. The primary cause of climate change is linked to the release of a massive amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere around the time of the LPME, which triggered rapid warming.

In the case of the LPME, it is recognised that the rapid warming associated with this event is linked to massive volcanic activity that took place in the region of modern-day Siberia, but direct evidence was still lacking.