mass extinction event

mass extinction event (plural mass extinction events)

1. (evolutionary theory, geology) One of five historical events in which the Earth experienced a loss of ∼75% of all species over a geological interval of less than 3 million years, the most recent being the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago.
   • 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Joab:

     Joab is a two-mooned habitable planet that is most well known for its mass extinction event. Thousands of years ago, Joab was home to a primate-like spacefaring civilization as well as abundant flora and fauna. However, this can only be deduced from time capsules put into the ground well outside habitation centers -- all cities and detectable dwellings were targeted in a massive orbital bombardment that turned them into vapor. The resulting dust shroud killed all photosynthetic life and all fauna dependent on it.

   • 2022 May 11, Alexandra Alter, quoting Kim Stanley Robinson, “A Sci-Fi Writer Returns to Earth: ‘The Real Story Is the One Facing Us’”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     “As a utopia, it’s a very low bar,” Robinson said. “I mean, if we avoid the mass extinction event, we avoid everything dying, great, that’s utopia, given where we are now.”