---
product_id: 87581111
title: "The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions"
brand: "peter brannen"
price: "$30.90"
currency: USD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 10
url: https://www.desertcart.us/products/87581111-the-ends-of-the-world-volcanic-apocalypses-lethal-oceans-our
store_origin: US
region: United States of America
---

# The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions

**Brand:** peter brannen
**Price:** $30.90
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions by peter brannen
- **How much does it cost?** $30.90 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.us](https://www.desertcart.us/products/87581111-the-ends-of-the-world-volcanic-apocalypses-lethal-oceans-our)

## Best For

- peter brannen enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted peter brannen brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions

## Images

![The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91WgfJAHTjL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    A thoroughly enjoyable book, essential reading
  

*by R***T on Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2017*

Peter Brannen is an extremely gifted science writer in the tradition of the venerable Richard Dawkins and much wittier than Stephen J. Gould. He provides here an excellent overview of our current thinking on prehistoric mass extinction events.The basic concepts (such as the carbon cycle) are well explained, down to the appropriate level of detail: there really is no need to descend into astrophysical details and try to explain why the early Sun was faint, and the many scientific uncertainties and counterviews are highlighted. More importantly the author presents all this with a 'helicopter view', never losing sight of the whole, something professional scientists (like myself) struggle with mightily when communicating their findings. He also includes lots of funny anecdotes, making this just a terrific page-turner. The whole story reads like a thriller where few of the protagonists die peacefully of old age and evidence against the suspects and what weapons they used is well explained, and which all ends well with us triumphant humans appearing in the final chapter to enjoy the show. If you think that great writers only write novels, do read this book instead. It is quite US-centered, with Americans even appropriating the cause for the first extinction with the rise of the Appalachians, but it all fits the intrigue.What I came away with is that only the earliest mass extinction- the one that ended the Devonian- is believed to have occurred directly by climate change (cooling). Life has since evolved to become much more robust, occupying a bewildering variety of niches and able to weather a wide range of climates- merely laughing at the 'recent' Ice Ages. Subsequent extinctions after that Devonian event required more sudden perturbations, like volcanoes and meteorites, and the wild CO2 swings that accompanied these just made things worse. I especially like the view that a large meteorite initiated the extinction of almost all dinosaurs (read the book if you still believe that all dinosaurs went away), but that this also caused Earth's magma to slosh around, helping a hotspot to pierce through India, which was just moving over it.Now where things get tricky is that this book is written in an era of heated debate over anthropogenic CO2, but that is not what the book is primarily about. What few fail to appreciate is that today's greenhouse gases are likely to greatly affect human civilization, but much less so all other life forms. So saying that the Paris agreement attempts to 'save the Planet' is therefore somewhat misleading. Coastal areas will disappear, but places like Canada and Siberia will much better support agriculture to feed us (which the FAO says should increase productivity threefold this century). Yet of course there is the ominous risk of hitting 'tipping points', so count me in as a climate worrier. Still, I would be much more concerned about an immediate return to the next Ice Age (again, this possibility is well discussed in the book). Also, we won't be pushing CO2 levels to the 30,000 ppm or so seen in the past (todays counter just passed 400). A massive extinction event is in fact ongoing (though not as bad as previous ones), but we are causing that by habitat destruction (appropriating Earth's surface for agriculture and building cities)- changing our climate has not much to do with it. I suspect Mother Nature is just waiting for us humans to go away to resume business as usual- from Her perspective, humanity's demise (through global warming or otherwise) is actually a boon for The Planet.Like I said, all this is a subtle discussion, and this book provides an excellent, well informed and well explained background to this. What is somewhat surprising is that human overpopulation, the elephant in the room, is not discussed. There is just no way Planet Earth can both maintain its biodiversity and 10 billion people, and this is a delicate discussion omitted from this book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    The story of the world's great extinction events
  

*by S***N on Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2018*

This book is a well done telling of the story of Earth's five great extinctions. In each case, a large majority of species (including plants, land life, sea life, and life in flight) disappeared. In most cases, ironic given today's climate debate, carbon imbalance was the problem. And even the Cretaceous extinction,  recently thought to have been brought about by an object from space crashing into the Yucatan area, may have interacted with contemporaneous volcanic eruptions in India.The heart of this book is a detailed examination of life in various periods. The climax of each was an extinction event.  These are the five: End-Ordovician, Late Devonian, End-Permian, End-Triassic, and End-Cretaceous. Each period is well described, as we see dominant forms evolve as well as all manner of life. Then, the climax of an extinction event that could destroy 90% of all life.Then, the author describes the slow recovery of life and new forms coming into dominance. The most recent extinction event, of course, resulted in the death of most dinosaurs (birds are dinosaurs, theropods related to T. Rex and raptors, so we have today a bridge of life back to the age of the dinosaurs). This is the end event most familiar to most of us.The book ends with speculation about a sixth extinction event, with discussion of the possibility that humans may be a part of the picture, with increased carbon being produced, destruction of natural habitats, etc. This is obviously a speculative chapter, but one that helps place the tale of five prior extinctions into an interesting frame.All in all, a fine work.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Illuminating history of our planet and the many times life has nearly been wiped out on it.
  

*by T***E on Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2018*

This is an entertaining and enthralling read. I learned a lot about the history of the earth, and I had a decent understanding prior. I only wish the Kindle version had some photos. The writing is great - often amusing, always interesting, and the subject matter couldn't be more important. That there are all these areas nearby that give glimpses into the very remote past is something I was oblivious of, and the other mass extinctions have been alluded to in a lot of my reading (especially by Elizabeth Kolbert in the New Yorker), but I had no idea of their magnitude. That new and spectacular creatures could arise so quickly after life was nearly wiped out is the most eye opening new information.

## Frequently Bought Together

- The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions
- Otherlands: A World in the Making

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.us/products/87581111-the-ends-of-the-world-volcanic-apocalypses-lethal-oceans-our](https://www.desertcart.us/products/87581111-the-ends-of-the-world-volcanic-apocalypses-lethal-oceans-our)

---

*Product available on Desertcart United States of America*
*Store origin: US*
*Last updated: 2026-02-03*