We’re all probably loosely familiar with the idea that the dinosaurs were the victims of a mass extinction event

You’re probably less familiar with the idea that that was the fifth of five such events over the course of the planet’s history

Now that we ourselves are becoming a geological force, what can these past extinctions tell us about the future survival of life on this planet?

Lauren Sallan is a Paleobiologist and Martin Meyerson Assistant Professor in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

First Aired: 11/8/18