However, a «volcanic winter» occurring suddenly and lasting a decade or two could still have devastating consequences on life at the surface, with abrupt massive decreases in food production and potential extinctions of some species. (giss.nasa.gov)
Goddéris Y, Donnadieu Y, de Vargas C, Pierrehumbert RT, Dromart G 2008: Causal or casual link between the rise of nannoplankton calcification and a tectonically - driven massive decrease in Late Triassic atmospheric CO2? (geosci.uchicago.edu)
In response to the debt crisis structural adjustment programmes were imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as a means to «create macroeconomic stability» through privatisation, the lowering of trade barriers and massive decreases in public spending, particularly on services and civil salaries. (blog.politics.ox.ac.uk)