Climate change and sea level change followed by a catastrophic event, this is the lethal pattern that Peter Ward has observed taking place during to the first two mass extinctions in the earth's history. It is the fact that Ward has observed this pattern in the events of earth's history since the second event that has led him to form an alarming conclusion in his book "The End Of Evolution." He concludes that the earth is now in the midst of a third mass extinction.
             The collision of all the earth's continents forming one big super continent was the beginning of the first major mass extinction of the earth's history occurring 250 million years ago. This collision changed the earth's climate to one of extreme heat in the summer and extreme cold in the winter. It also lowered the level of the oceans by as much as 300ft. The Earth's ecosystem, then weakened by the resulting deaths and reduction in diversity, collapsed under the pressure of a catastrophic event still yet to be fully understood. Ninety percent of life on earth perished.
             Following the repopulation of the Earth with a new ecosystem after the first mass extinction, another climate change came about. Volcanic eruptions spewed huge quantities of CO2 gas into the atmosphere raising the Earths temperature by way of the greenhouse effect and altering oceanic circulation patterns. This climate change accompanied by a drastic drop in sea level drastically lowered the level of biodiversity on earth and created an unstable and fragile ecosystem just as in the first event. The catastrophic event (or final blow) of this extinction was an enormous meteor that struck the earth.
             Now evidence for the third event. Ward cites the Ice Age as being the beginning of the third and current major mass extinction. Antarctica migrated to the South Pole allowing ice caps to form and reflect light and warmth back into space. The earth then cooled
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