In general, how are the causes of mass extinctions different from the causes of background extinction? mass extinctions generally result from the slow accumulation of changes to the environment while background extinction results from loss of genetic diversity. mass extinctions happen when populations crash due to overpopulation while background extinctions are more likely to result from disease. mass extinctions result from fast and drastic changes to the environment while the causes of background extinction take place slowly over time. mass extinctions tend to result from habitat loss while background extinctions result from loss of biodiversity.