What caused the Permian-Triassic extinction event?

The Permian-Triassic extinction event was like a giant "reset button" for Earth, it wiped out most life on the planet.

Imagine you're playing with your favorite toy box full of different toys: cars, blocks, dolls. Then someone drops a huge rock on top of it and shakes it really hard. A lot of the toys are broken or lost in the mess. That's what happened to Earth, everything got shaken up so much that most living things couldn't survive.

Volcanoes were one big reason. Think of them like super loud, fiery fireworks going off all over the planet for a very long time. These volcanoes spewed out toxins and ash, making it hard for plants and animals to breathe.

Also, the ocean got polluted, like when you spill juice on your floor, it's messy and makes everything around it sticky. The ocean turned into a "sticky mess" too, killing off many sea creatures.

So Earth had a super loud, fiery party that went on for ages, followed by a really messy ocean, it was like the planet got tired of playing and decided to take a long nap!