
EvolutionJuly 1, 2022
Toxic Slime Contributed to Earth’s Worst Mass Extinction—And It’s Making a Comeback
Global warming fueled rampant overgrowth of microbes at the end of the Permian period. Such lethal blooms may be on the rise again
Stephen McLoughlin is curator of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic plant fossil collections at the Swedish Museum of Natural History. His research interests revolve around the evolution and extinction of plant life on Earth.

Toxic Slime Contributed to Earth’s Worst Mass Extinction—And It’s Making a Comeback
Global warming fueled rampant overgrowth of microbes at the end of the Permian period. Such lethal blooms may be on the rise again