Episode 407 : Changing Nature In the show ' s final episode , Earl causes the extinction of the Dinosaur species , when at the prodding of Richfield and the WESAYSO Corporation , he poisons all plant life . In an effort to bring the plants back , he blocks the sun from the planet , sending global temperatures below freezing . Earl realizes that his mistake was to put too much faith in progress and not have enough respect for nature . Story . It ' s May 14 , the day when the bunch beetles return to Pangaea to migrate , and also eat all of the cider poppies that have been growing . But for some reason , they don ' t show up when expected . Ethyl mentions that they have never been late like this before . Four days later , the cider poppies are growing like crazy , into the inside of the Sinclair household . A bunch beetle , Stan , finally shows up . He tells the Sinclairs that he was traveling with other bunch beetles , but then halfway to the swamp , he remembered that he left the sink running , and is now lost . Earl tells him that he ' s supposed to eat the cider poppies , but Stan doesn ' t have time to eat because he has to go to the swamp , find a female , mate , and reproduce ( he ' ll be dead in two weeks ) . They realize that it ' s the baby bunch beetles who eat the cider poppies , and also learn that Stan can ' t find the swamp . Charlene takes Stan to the swamp , and they are shocked to discover that WESAYSO tore it down in order to pave way for a wax fruit factory . A factory worker sees Stan and is about to spray him , but Charlene stops him in defense of the bunch beetle . The worker then informs her that all of the bugs that got near the factory have been sprayed . As Earl and Fran cut down plants in the living room , they watch Charlene and Stan on the news . Charlene informs the news that Stan is the last bunch beetle because WESAYSO tore down the swamp and endangered the species just to build a wax fruit factory , making progress just for the sake of progress . When Earl realizes that Charlene is being interviewed from in the kitchen , he defends WESAYSO and also supports progress , saying that he can deal with any sacrifice as long as there is new technology . B . P . Richfield watches the program , and gets a call from his boss , knowing that this report could cause trouble for the company . After seeing Earl defend progress , Richfield gets the idea to start a task force , and find somebody dumb enough to volunteer to be in charge ( i . e . take troubles away from the company ) . Earl and Roy are interviewed about the task force , explaining that they plan on poisoning the cider poppies . Earl ' s family begs him to consider a safer alternative , but he refuses . Helicopters fly all over the world , spraying poison on the poppies . The next day , it is reported that the process worked too well : not only are the poppies gone , but so are all forms of plant life on earth , which means that there is no food . Earl and Roy ask Richfield for a plan to bring back the plants . Richfield initially hasn ' t thought of anything , but then realizes that it needs to rain in order for the plants to grow back , and rain comes from clouds . Richfield figures that clouds always come whenever volcanoes erupt , so he plans on throwing a bunch of bombs into volcanoes so that there will be a lot of clouds . Since the last plan had backfired , Earl suggests that they think twice about it , but Richfield convinces Earl that this is no time to lose faith in progress . Bombs are thrown into the volcanoes , but instead of raining , it snows instead . Earl figures that when the sun comes up , the snow will melt and there will be plenty of water . However , Howard Handupme reports that the clouds are so thick that scientists have predicted it will take tens of thousands of years before the sun will melt away the snow . Earl calls Richfield , who doesn ' t see this as a problem . Because of the sudden " cold snap " , people are buying a lot of WESAYSO logs , heaters , blankets and hot cocoa mixes . Earl points out that the world might come to an end , but Richfield misses the point . His only problem is figuring out what to do with all of the money he has made . Earl apologizes to Stan for the extinction of his species , and apologizes to his family for bringing the world to an end . Earl says that his problem was putting too much faith in progress and having not enough respect for nature , taking it for granted because it is always there . He tells the Baby that he didn ' t take very good care of the world , but Baby is reassured that no matter what happens , they will always be a family . In the final scene , anchorman Howard Handupme signs off , for the final time . The ending credits roll with the scenes of snow falling in to the Sinclair home .