Evolution
Toxic Slime Contributed to Earth’s Worst Mass Extinction—And It’s Making a Comeback
Global warming fueled rampant overgrowth of microbes at the end of the Permian period. Such lethal blooms may be on the rise again
Stories by Vivi Vajda
Vivi Vajda is a geologist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History who specializes in microscopic fossils, including those of plankton and algae. She studies vegetation changes through time to better understand mass extinctions. Credit: Nick Higgins
