Answer: Mass extinctions and background extinctions are both types of extinction events that occur on Earth, but they differ in their scope and severity.
Background extinctions are a natural and ongoing process of species turnover that occurs at a relatively low rate, and typically affects a small percentage of the total number of species on Earth. These extinctions are often driven by environmental changes, competition, predation, or other factors that affect individual populations, but they do not typically result in a significant loss of biodiversity at the global scale.
Mass extinctions, on the other hand, are rare but catastrophic events that occur when a large percentage of species on Earth go extinct in a relatively short period of time, usually within a few million years. These events are often triggered by major environmental disturbances such as volcanic eruptions, asteroid impacts, or rapid climate change, and can have a profound and long-lasting impact on the global ecosystem. Mass extinctions result in a much greater loss of biodiversity compared to background extinctions, and can take tens of millions of years for biodiversity to fully recover.
Step-by-step explanation: