Countdown to mass extinction?

The Visitor Center explores climate change in both the past and the present, presenting an exhibition on the largest mass extinction event in Earth’s history and on today’s climate crisis.

Around 252 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period, gigantic volcanic eruptions in Siberia triggered the greatest catastrophe in Earth’s history. Over the course of roughly one million years, vast amounts of lava covered several million square kilometres. At the same time, enormous amounts of CO₂ were released into the atmosphere, causing an extreme greenhouse effect. Up to 96% of marine life and about 70% of land animals died out; even after the eruptions had ceased, temperatures remained high, and life took roughly 5 million years to recover significantly.

Unfortunately, this event shows striking parallels to today’s human‑induced climate crisis. Since the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric CO₂ concentrations has risen from about 280 ppm to around 428 ppm (late January 2026). We are experiencing one heat record after another. Are we facing a “countdown to the sixth mass extinction”?

How can carbon dioxide have such a major impact on our global climate? How does the greenhouse effect influence our planet’s atmosphere, and where are the thresholds beyond which it becomes harmful?
Learn here how this seemingly inconspicuous gas affects weather and climate on Earth, why today’s climate change poses a particular challenge, and how it differs from natural climate fluctuations of the past.