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"Cutting-edge techniques across biology, chemistry, physics, and geology have transformed our understanding of the deep past, including the discovery of a previously unknown mass extinction. This compelling evidence, revealing a series of environmental crises resulting in the near collapse of life on Earth, illuminates our current dilemmas in exquisite detail. Beginning with the oldest, Professor Michael J. Benton takes us through the ""big five"" die outs: the Late Ordovician, which set the evolution of the first animals on an entirely new course; the Late Devonian, apparently brought on by global warming; the cataclysmic End-Permian, also known as the Great Dying, which wiped out over 90 percent of all life on Earth; the newly discovered Carnian Pluvial Event; and the End-Cretaceous asteroid. He examines how global warming, acid rain, ocean acidification, erupting volcanoes, and meteorite impact have affected conditions on Earth, and how life survived, adapted, and evolved. In Extinctions, listeners will learn about revolutionary new tools used to uncover ancient extinction events and processes in forensic detail, and how scientists are improving our understanding of the deep past. New research allows us to link long-ago upheavals to crises in our current age, the Anthropocene, with important consequences for us all."

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"Michael J. Benton is professor of vertebrate palaeontology at the University of Bristol. His many previous books include standard reference works, textbooks, and popular books on dinosaurs and the history of life. Peter Noble is an Audie Award-winning narrator who has recorded hundreds of audiobooks and audio dramas, including the 2021 Booker Prize winner, as well as Audible and New York Times bestsellers. Peter is a brain injury survivor, and has a unique understanding of the music of language. He was born in South Africa, in a valley Alan Paton called ""lovely beyond any singing of it."" He grew up traveling and studied music and drama at the University of Cape Town. In South Africa, Peter worked in the theater, touring the country with a small repertory company, as well as appearing on radio, TV, and film. Peter moved to London to study classical acting at LAMDA. He went on to train as a singer at the Royal Academy of Music, where he was part of the second graduating cohort of the legendary RAM Musical Theatre program. He also has an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. He lives just outside of London, in Hertfordshire."

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