Back to the subject of the thread. Here is another article from PHys.Org about volcanic eruptions and extinction events.

New research may draw a 'curtain of fire' on dinosaur extinction theory

The paper that was quoted in the article says that the devastation associated with massive eruptions such as the Deccan Traps would not have been as severe as has been thought. The atmosphere would have cooled quite a bit, about 4.5 degrees C. But vegetation would have been affected in a spotty way. Some places it would have been destroyed and other places it wouldn't have been affected. It would only have taken about 50 years for the temperature to recover from the shock.

Thinking off the top of my head it seems likely that species that were highly adapted to a given climate would have a hard time making it through even a 50 year change. So the likelihood of becoming extinct in such an event would depend on how finely a species was tuned to the environment. Generalist species would have a better chance of making it through.

Bill Gill

C is not the speed of light in a vacuum.
C is the universal speed limit.