The history of the Earth is long and some incredible things have happened ranging from meteor strikes to dinosaurs, and even the movement of the continents.

One incredible time period that most people haven’t heard of is known as the Carnian Pluvial Episode, which took place during the Late Triassic Age.

What makes this ‘episode’ unique? Well, rain. And lots of it.

A growing amount of evidence is pointing to the idea that around 232 million years ago, it started to rain, and for the most part it just didn’t stop.

This was back when the one global supercontinent named Pangaea existed. Prior to the start of the massive rains, the Earth was already quite warm and humid, so the conditions were right for it.

Some experts believe that a series of large-scale volcanic eruptions took place along what is now the coast of Alaska and British Columbia.

The rapid increase in greenhouse gasses, temperature changes, and adjustments to the moisture in the air triggered the rainstorm that lasted between 1 and 2 million years.

This extended rainstorm likely wiped out huge numbers of plants and animals, forcing them into extinction. One study that was published in the Journal of Geological Society suggests that it is this mass extinction event that cleared the way for dinosaurs to become the dominant species.

In their study, the authors wrote:

“In the wake of wide extinctions of plants and key herbivores on land, the dinosaurs were seemingly the main beneficiaries in the time of recovery, expanding rapidly in diversity, ecological impact (relative abundance) and regional distribution, from South America initially, to all continents.”

The idea of this global rainstorm was first developed in the 1980’s by geologists Alastair Ruffell and Michael Simms. Their colleagues at the time dismissed the idea as preposterous, but over the years, evidence continued to mount that it was true.

Today, however, it is taken so seriously that there is a conference dedicated to it and it is a very popular research subject for geologists and other scientists.

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