Ray burst is extinction suspect

[Sticks]

From the BBC Website

How at risk are we today of annihilation by gamma ray out burst ? 8-[

[collegeguy]

I remenber to have read that gamma ray bursts are expelled as a straight beam. In order for one to reach earth, it would have to be pointed in our direction.

[TravisM]

And, ocianic life, being under water would be shielded rather well, I think.

[Swift]

And, ocianic life, being under water would be shielded rather well, I think.

From the BBC article:

Although deep sea creatures would be protected from the effects of the burst, surface-dwelling plankton and other life near the top of the ocean would not survive.

This would have had huge implications for other life forms, because plankton form the foundation of the marine food chain; they provide for animals which are then eaten by larger species.

What bothered me about the BBC story is why do they think this happened for the Ordovician extinction event.

Gamma ray bursts are rare occurrences, but scientists estimate that at least one must have occurred near the Earth in the past one billion years.

One in the last billion years doesn't mean that particular extinction event was caused by a gamma ray burst, unless I'm missing something. :-?

[Evan]

Link to previous thread explaining probability of being fried.