A new study in the journal Nature, helps solve a mystery, but also spells out a dire warning for the future. If we continue to heat up the planet by burning fossil fuels.

The Great Dying was the worst of the five mass extinction events that have punctuated Earth’s history, and it marked the end of the Permian geological period. It was attributed to a period of volcanic activity in a region known as the Siberian Traps, which released huge amounts of carbon and other planet-heating gases into the atmosphere.

Now we may understand why the heat wave then lasted 5 million years afterwards.

The answer may lie in a climate tipping point: the collapse of tropical forests.

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