The Smoking Gun For The Permian Extinction Reportedly Found

Volcanic eruptions in Canada 'caused largest mass 
extinction' 250m years ago by Graham Smith, Daily Mail
January 24, 2011‎
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1349981/Volcanic-eruptions-Canada-caused-largest-mass-extinction-250m-years-ago.html

(Note: the headline badly garbles what the paper concludes.)

Calgary researchers link mass extinction to volcanic ash
Calgary Sun, Jenna McMurray , ‎Jan. 23, 2011‎
http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2011/01/23/17004071.html

Evidence in Canadian Arctic points to volcanoes as 
cause of massive extinction, Mark Iype and Lea Storry, 
Postmedia News, January 23, 2011
http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Evidence+Canadian+Arctic+points+volcanoes+cause+massive+extinction/4152438/story.html

Massive volcanic eruptions + coal fires = the Great Dying
By John Timmer.
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/01/massive-volcanic-eruptions-coal-fires-the-great-dying.ars

The paper is:

Grasby, S. E., H. Sanei, and B. Beauchamp, 2011, 
Catastrophic dispersion of coal fly ash into oceans 
during the latest Permian extinction. Nature 
geoscience. Published online 23 January 2011
http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ngeo1069.html

Yours,

Paul H.