Life on Earth has narrowly avoided total annihilation on about five occasions throughout history.

Now scientists have produced a grim analysis of the environment which could indicate humanity is about to cause a sixth ‘mass extinction’.

A team from Arizona State University has just published a study of a disaster which took place about 550 million years ago.

What they found is that before this cataclysm the ocean was drained of oxygen as it became ‘anoxic’, which means the amount of this vital gas in the waters of Earth dropped.


Are humans set to repeat natural disasters which came close to extinguishing life on our planet? (Photo:Getty)

The researchers believe this process was linked to the mass extinction and that ‘the episode of extensive marine anoxia coincided with the decline and the subsequent disappearance of early animals’.



Worryingly, there are signs that oxygen levels are dropping in oceans around the world – suggesting there could be trouble ahead.

‘This may have been most severe marine anoxic event in the last 550 million years,’ said Feifei Zhang from the School of Earth and Space Exploration.

‘Mathematical modelling of our data suggests that almost the entire seafloor was overlain by anoxic waters during the end of the Ediacaran Period.’

In a statement, Arizona State University said ‘there has been a recent measurable rise in ocean anoxia, attributed by scientists to climate change’.

This could suggest we’re heading for another mass extinction which will prove disastrous for our planet.

“The past is our best laboratory to understand the future,’ co-author Ariel Anbar said.

‘It’s sobering to see how often the mass extinctions of the past were preceded by increases in ocean anoxia.

‘There is a lot we don’t understand about climate change, but the things we do know are a big cause for concern.’