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Ancient volcanic activity in the <keyword id="1358643" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="deccan-traps" source="Orion">Deccan Traps</keyword> of West-Central <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> is thought to have played a crucial role in the extinction of dinosaurs, according to recent research. The expansive plateau, formed by molten lava, contributed to global climate cooling around 65 million years ago. These volcanic eruptions released toxic gases into the atmosphere, causing a phenomenon known as volcanic winter, which plunged the <keyword id="6359982" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="earth" source="Orion">Earth</keyword> into darkness and cold.<br /><br />The Deccan Traps are a series of lava flows that occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period, spanning 145 million to 66 million years ago. Covering an area of about 1.5 million square kilometres near India's Western Ghats, roughly half the size of modern India, these volcanic eruptions released large amounts of sulphur and fluorine into the atmosphere, further cooling the Earth's climate and blocking out sunlight. This hindered plant growth, leading to starvation among many animals.<br /><br />This study challenges the commonly held belief that the <keyword id="244916" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="chicxulub" source="Orion">Chicxulub</keyword> <keyword id="6549794" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="asteroid" source="Orion">asteroid</keyword> impact was the primary cause of <keyword id="48645" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="dinosaur" source="Orion">dinosaur</keyword> extinction, suggesting that Deccan volcanism might have exacerbated the die-offs. The research, indicating the impact of ancient <keyword id="6361617" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-change" source="Orion">climate change</keyword> on the transition from the Cretaceous to the <keyword id="7601674" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="paleogene" source="Orion">Paleogene</keyword> period, emphasizes the profound consequences of even minor shifts in global temperatures.<br /><br />“Our research demonstrates that climatic conditions were almost certainly unstable, with repeated volcanic winters that could have lasted decades, prior to the extinction of the dinosaurs,” explains Don Baker, co-author of the study. “This instability would have made life difficult for all plants and animals and set the stage for the dinosaur extinction event.”<br /><br />The research findings have been published in <em>Scientific Advances</em> and can be accessed <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adg8284" data-type="tilCustomLink">here</a>.<br />

One of India's ancient geological features might have helped kill off the dinosaurs millions of years ago!

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dinosaur-fossil-from-day-extinction-asteroid-hit-earth-scientists-claim-2022-4">asteroid that killed</a> most dinosaurs 66 million years ago left behind traces of its own origin.</li><li>Researchers think they know where the Chicxulub impactor came from based on levels of ruthenium.</li></ul><p>A team of researchers think they know the origin of a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-impact-triggered-underwater-volcanic-eruptions-2018-2">massive space rock</a> that hit Earth and killed off almost all the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.</p><p>Their findings could help NASA in its search for potentially hazardous asteroids that pose a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mass-extinction-earth-take-10-million-years-recover-2019-4">significant threat</a> to life on Earth.</p><p>Asteroids have different chemical makeups depending on where they formed in our solar system.</p><p>To determine the<strong> </strong>dino-killing<strong> </strong>asteroid's origin, researchers examined the various elements in samples taken from<strong> </strong>several locations dating to the time of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mass-extinction-earth-take-10-million-years-recover-2019-4">mass extinction</a>.</p><p>In particular, they looked at the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oppenheimer-science-to-understand-physics-atomic-bombs-2023-7">element ruthenium</a>. It's a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/44/ruthenium">rare</a> metal on Earth but is more abundant in asteroids.</p><p>Ruthenium levels can be a good indicator of whether an asteroid "originally formed in the outer solar system or in the inner solar system," Mario Fischer-Gödde, one of the researchers, told Business Insider.</p><p>Fischer-Gödde and his colleagues found that, unlike many other impactors over the last 541 million years, the Chicxulub impactor that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-strike-cretaceous-paleogene-extinction-2017-11">killed the dinosaurs</a> and up to 75% of all life on Earth formed in the outer — not the inner — solar system.</p><p>However, the impactor likely made its way to the inner solar system in the asteroid belt long before it hurtled toward Earth. That's because in the early days of the solar system, Jupiter migrated and its gravitational influence scattered more distant asteroids closer to the sun in the process, Fischer-Gödde said.</p><h2 id="42437828-e838-4325-833b-b21d3ef96f61">NASA doesn't know where all the dangerous asteroids are</h2><div type="image" title="A stegosaurus skeleton in front of a sign that reads &quot;Apex the Segosaurs&quot;" height="683" width="1024" msid="112576306" hostid="261" sizebytes="48450"></div><p>Despite the rarity of huge asteroid strikes, NASA and other space agencies are racing to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-built-largest-digital-camera-lsst-for-asteroids-dark-matter-2024-4">learn all they can</a> about potentially harmful rocks that could trigger another mass extinction event. Because it only takes one.</p><p>There are still many unknowns about these rocks, including <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-dart-mission-cant-protect-earth-without-surveilling-asteroids-2022-9">where some of them are</a> and which types may pose the most threat.</p><p>Understanding more about the origin of major asteroid strikes in Earth's past could help NASA know where to look for future risks.</p><p>With the ruthenium findings, "we are a step further in zooming in on the exact object" that created the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-more-sulfur-rapid-climate-cooling-2017-11">Chicxulub crater</a>, Jan Smit, a professor emeritus at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam who was not involved in the research, told Business Insider via email.</p><h2 id="bbfbaaec-0fb8-4e72-a632-37f1006840ab">An asteroid type that rarely hits Earth did unbelievable damage</h2><div type="image" title="An artist's illustration of a massive asteroid colliding with Earth" height="1414" width="2121" msid="112576307" hostid="261" sizebytes="186530"></div><p>Fischer-Gödde and his colleagues examined samples from five <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asteroid-impact-simulation-experts-fear-congress-would-delay-action-2024-6">other impacts</a> that happened in the last 541 million years.</p><p>Their levels of ruthenium showed that most of the objects were S-type asteroids, which are found in the inner solar system.</p><p>Meanwhile, the samples taken from the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, where the Chicxulub impactor hit, suggested that the object was a C-type asteroid, which typically live in the outer solar system.</p><p>Earlier studies <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=d979a6041b8f5d7121d348980127dd645a72bea6c355d8e6bd6ce429583ce309&amp;postID=66be5b0fb9a365362651ba40&amp;postSlug=origins-asteroid-killed-dinosaurs-help-prevent-future-mass-extinction-2024-8&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2F24322">suggested</a> the Chicxulub impactor was a C-type asteroid but this latest ruthenium data adds to the supporting evidence, Smit told BI.</p><p>About 80% of the meteorites that have hit Earth are fragments of S-type asteroids, Fischer-Gödde said.</p><p>It's not clear why S-type impactors are more common, but Fischer-Gödde thinks it might be that C-types tend to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-simulated-asteroid-couldnt-stop-impact-europe-2021-5">break apart more</a> and don't make it through the Earth's atmosphere.</p><p>"So far we cannot really say whether one or the other asteroid type would be more likely to cause a mass extinction event," Fischer-Gödde said in a follow-up email. He said asteroids may have contributed to older mass extinction events, like the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=31f1c3e012df1524f07e36095b624c954adf7b450ab4f9552ae32e03b640b8fe&amp;postID=66be5b0fb9a365362651ba40&amp;postSlug=origins-asteroid-killed-dinosaurs-help-prevent-future-mass-extinction-2024-8&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalgeographic.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fmass-extinction">one</a> during the Late Devonian period. Future research could explain the origins of these asteroid strikes as well.</p><p>However, the devastation from the Chicxulub impactor shows that a C-type can be disastrous for Earth. It was a combination of factors, from its size to where it hit, that led to its widespread destruction.</p><p>"It's a big kind of cosmic coincidence, and we all should be thankful for this because otherwise maybe the planet would look very different nowadays," Fischer-Gödde said.</p><p>The researchers published their findings in the journal <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk4868"><u>Science</u></a>.</p>

Scientists think they've found the origin of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. It could help prevent a future mass extinction on Earth.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Over a million species are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/animals-saved-endangered-species-act-passed-eagle-grizzly-wolf-alligator-2023-11">at risk of extinction</a> due to climate change. </li><li>But some animals are more resilient to temperature changes and could thrive in a warming world.</li></ul><p>In the game of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-trump-climate-policies-ev-subsidies-renewables-fossil-fuel-drilling-2024-7">climate change</a>, there are both winners and losers.</p><p>Experts predict that one-third of Earth's plants and animals — millions of species — could disappear by 2050 if the current rate of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-microsoft-ai-search-war-will-add-to-carbon-emissions-2023-2">greenhouse gas emissions</a> persists. And some are already disappearing.</p><p>But other animals are more resilient to temperature changes and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-atlantic-wolffish-is-being-driven-to-extinction-2018-12">habitat disruption</a>. There are a few species that could not only survive but thrive in a warming world.</p><p>Climate models have shown that "we have a lot of species that might actually benefit from climate change," expanding their ranges into new geographic areas that were previously inhospitable to them, Giovanni Strona, quantitative ecology researcher at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, told Business Insider.</p><p>Many of these climate change "winners" are hardy, fast-breeding scavengers that already live in some of the most degraded habitats on Earth: cities. They're not all cute and cuddly, and some are considered pests that pose <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reduce-hazardous-forever-chemicals-exposure-pfas-at-home-2022-9">risks to human health</a>.</p><p>Whether you like them or not, it doesn't look like these four critters are going away any time soon.</p><h2 id="6e3ccb79-94d3-4f58-b3e8-cfc9daa4ac11">Cockroaches probably won't need to worry about a food shortage</h2><div type="image" title="cockroach" height="667" width="1000" msid="112024671" hostid="261" sizebytes="34886"></div><p>Roaches are a city-dweller's worst enemy. These indestructible insects can inhabit every corner of their urban environment, from the dredges of subway tunnels to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rupert-murdoch-cuts-price-of-nyc-penthouse-in-half-2024-6">skyrise apartments</a>.</p><p>And once they've moved in, it's extremely difficult to get rid of them. That's because the humble cockroach has evolved to be one of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/origin-cockroaches-evolution-human-made-environments-study-2024-5">most resilient animals in the world</a>.</p><p>These ancient arthropods have been around for over 300 million years, surviving every challenge they've faced. They even made it through the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/molting-feathers-help-birds-survive-when-dinosaurs-went-extinct-2023-7">Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction</a>, which eliminated 80% of Earth's animal life.</p><p>What didn't kill them only made them stronger. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/roblox-streamer-powenvy-tiktok-viral-messy-dirty-roaches-bedroom-2023-12">Cockroaches</a> have lived through periods of extreme environmental change, including significant climatic shifts. They prefer hot, humid conditions, and can survive temperatures up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.</p><p>What's more, cockroaches can live for a month without food, and a week without water. When it comes to what they eat, they aren't picky, which means they probably don't have to worry about climate change eliminating their food source.</p><p>These characteristics and their long history of survival lead scientists to believe that cockroaches will do just fine in a warmer world, and perhaps even <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/animals-that-can-survive-apocalypse-2019-7">outlive humans</a>.</p><h2 id="8abd8a8d-f358-4fd9-8509-15905483e765">Rats can probably evolve to tackle anything climate change throws their way</h2><div type="image" title="Rats" height="2000" width="3008" msid="112024666" hostid="261" sizebytes="329522"></div><p>Like cockroaches, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-rat-czar-stop-feeding-pigeons-tactics-2024-4">rats</a> eat pretty much anything and can live almost anywhere. But the real source of their resilience is their adaptability.</p><p><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-rat-extermination-weapon-rodent-population-takeover-climate-change-2023-11">Rats reproduce in massive numbers</a>. They breed year-round, producing roughly six litters annually. The average litter size is eight to 18 pups, so that's up to 108 rats a year from a single female.</p><p>Because of how rapidly they reproduce, rats evolve faster than many other mammals, adapting to changes in their environment or climate faster and more effectively.</p><p>Plus, there's strength in numbers. Having lots and lots of babies means that rats can sustain large population numbers, so when challenges arise, there's a greater chance that at least some individuals will survive.</p><p>Research has shown that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-extremes-worsen-most-infectious-diseases-from-leprosy-to-covid-2022-8">rising global temperatures</a> will only make it easier for rats to reproduce. Because as winters grow warmer, fewer rats will die from the cold, leaving more rats to reproduce year-round.</p><p>We're already beginning to see their numbers increase worldwide. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-city-explosive-increase-rats-over-last-65-years-2023-3">New York City's rat population</a> has increased by nearly one million over the last decade, M&amp;M Pest Control <a target="_blank" href="https://mandmpestcontrol.com/there-are-now-3-million-rats-in-new-york-city-study/">estimated</a> in 2023.</p><p>If climate change is driving a "ratpocalypse," as some evidence <a target="_blank" href="https://mediaengagement.org/blogs/rat-boom-and-leptospirosis-spike-in-nyc-linked-to-climate-change/">suggests</a>, that could have big consequences for human health.</p><p>Rats can carry diseases that are dangerous to humans, such as hantavirus, leptospirosis, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microbiologist-how-to-avoid-food-poisoning-2023-9">salmonella</a>. If they thrive in a warming world, that means these diseases could too.</p><h2 id="c2a5e096-ef23-4254-9b7d-dcb465a4d7ce">Mosquitos can grow faster in a warming world</h2><div type="image" title="A mosquito crawling on a person's skin against a green background." height="1414" width="2120" msid="112024664" hostid="261" sizebytes="64912"></div><p>Mosquitos aren't just annoying, they're also a major driver of disease worldwide.</p><p>These tiny bloodsuckers can carry a whole host of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mosquitos-with-west-nile-virus-becoming-immune-bug-spray-2023-8">viruses and parasites</a>, including malaria, dengue, Zika virus, and more. When transmitted to humans, these illnesses can be fatal. Each year, over one million people around the world die from mosquito-borne illnesses.</p><p><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/map-shows-west-nile-virus-has-been-detected-us-states-2022-7">Mosquito-borne illness</a> is most prevalent in Africa and tropic regions of southeast Asia and South America. That's because mosquitos thrive in warm, wet climates.</p><p>But as climate change raises temperatures and alters precipitation trends, their range is expanding and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marylander-caught-malaria-first-locally-acquired-case-years-2023-8">shifting to new geographic areas</a>. For example, a disease-carrying species of mosquito from South America appeared in Florida in 2021.</p><p>Additionally, studies have shown warmer temperatures can speed up a mosquito's growth, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/health/treatments/how-to-get-rid-of-mosquito-bites">biting rates</a>, and the incubation of disease inside them.</p><p>This means that climate change could cause mosquito-borne illnesses to spread to new places, and increase case numbers worldwide. Some evidence suggests that we're already seeing this happen.</p><p>In 2023, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/locally-transmitted-florida-malaria-texas-first-time-in-20-years-2023-6">Florida and Texas</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2023/08/mosquito-diseases-move">saw</a> their first cases of locally-transmitted malaria in 20 years. And In Europe, dengue outbreaks <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/increasing-risk-mosquito-borne-diseases-eueea-following-spread-aedes-species">spiked</a> significantly in 2022, largely driven by heat waves and flooding.</p><p>So, we can expect mosquitoes to stick around for a long time if warming continues.</p><h2 id="3dfabded-046d-43ca-b390-acecf7c0dd7b">Ticks are staying active year-round now that winters are more mild</h2><div type="image" title="deer tick" height="775" width="1200" msid="112024670" hostid="261" sizebytes="59408"></div><p>Move over mosquitos, there's another blood-sucking insect taking our warming world by storm.</p><p>Ticks thrive in warm, humid climates. They typically remain dormant during the winter, but as this season grows milder, they're staying active year-round. They're also emerging earlier and feeding longer throughout the year.</p><p>Additionally, warmer temperatures are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asian-longhorned-ticks-kill-cattle-spread-disease-2023-11">expanding their range</a> northward into areas where they were previously uncommon, including northeastern states such as Vermont.</p><p>That's bad news for human health, because like mosquitos, ticks carry dangerous diseases. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/25-year-old-man-died-misdiagnosed-lyme-disease-infected-heart-2023-2">Lyme disease</a>, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis are just a few examples of tick-borne illnesses. All three of them can become serious if left untreated.</p><p>In the US, cases of Lyme disease have nearly doubled since 1991, with the Northeast seeing the sharpest rise in cases. Studies suggest climate change has contributed significantly to this increase. And another 2023 study found that ticks are more resilient to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/southwest-airlines-flight-attendants-extreme-heat-safety-exploding-soda-cans-2024-7">extreme temperatures</a> than scientists previously believed.</p><p>All of this suggests ticks are weathering climate change with little issue and they'll likely stick around as temperatures continue to rise.</p><p>If you live in an area where ticks are present, it's a good idea to take preventative measures against them year-round. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-10-riskiest-states-for-pet-dog-cat-illness-2024-5">And that goes for your pets too</a>. But you should still be extra vigilant from April to September when ticks are most active.</p>

Rats, roaches, and other creatures are winning against climate change, and it's bad news for humans

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Shutterstock</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Sixty-six million years ago, a 9-kilometer-wide asteroid slammed into Earth, creating the Chicxulub Crater and triggering the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.</strong></li><li><strong>Skies were filled with soot and gas, firestorms covered the planet, and global temperatures plummeted, killing 75% of life on Earth and ending the dinosaurs.</strong></li><li><strong>But a new study says that the asteroid strike was only that devastating because it struck a small and particularly devastating part of the planet.</strong></li></ul><p><br />Some 66 million years ago, a city-sized asteroid slammed into Earth near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.</p><p>The massive impact created the 180-kilometer-wide Chicxulub Crater and triggered an extinction event - the Cretaceous-Paleogene event - that wiped out 75% of Earth's biodiversity, killing off almost all the dinosaurs that had dominated life on land for more than 130 million years.</p><p>But that event was only so devastating because of the location the asteroid hit, according to a study published in the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-14199-x">Nature journal Scientific Reports</a>. If it had hit most other places on Earth, the dinosaurs could have survived, according to the authors.</p><p>Specifically, the authors attribute the drastic extinction event to the aftereffects of the impact. After the 9-kilometer-wide asteroid slammed into the planet, it shook the Earth, causing earthquakes around the globe, triggering global firestorms, massive tsunamis, and filling the air with gas and soot that caused drastic global cooling.</p><p>Another <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-more-sulfur-rapid-climate-cooling-2017-11">recent study found that cooling event was so severe</a> that surface temperatures could have on average plummeted about 47 degrees Fahrenheit overnight, remaining that way for years.</p><p>In the new study, the authors write that the cooling event was only so severe because the asteroid struck a particularly hydrocarbon-rich region, which flooded the sky with soot. Only about 13% of the planet's surface is hydrocarbon-rich in that way, filled with enough sedimentary organic material and sulfur that the impact would have filled the sky with soot in such an extreme way.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-14199-x">Kaiho Oshima, Scientific Reports, 2017</a></span></p><p class="caption">Only the orange and magenta areas are hydrocarbon-rich enough to cause the global cooling event that followed the impact, according to the authors.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>In other words, if the asteroid had struck anywhere else on 87% of the planet's surface, the dinosaurs could have survived. As it happened, the only dinosaurs to make it through the event were avian dinosaurs - birds. The loss of the rest created a space for mammals.</p><p>Like all theories on the extinction of the dinosaurs, this one is controversial. Most researchers attribute the extinction event to the asteroid strike, but there are various interpretations of exactly why that strike was so devastating.</p><p>The authors of the recent paper on the global cooling that followed the event <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/11/09/dinosaurs-would-have-survived-if-asteroid-hit-earth-elsewhere-scientists-claim/?utm_term=.86c74f8bdfdf">told the Washington Post</a> that it was gases released by the impact that caused the dramatic climate change, not necessarily soot - though they still said the specific region the asteroid struck was crucial. Factors like firestorms, toxic chemicals, and acidified oceans may have also played a role.</p><p>Other researchers have said the impact <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-discovered-a-groundbreaking-new-reason-dinosaurs-went-extinct-2015-10">triggered a particularly intense period of volcanic activity</a> on the other side of the world that also would have filled the skies with sulfur and soot for years.</p><p>As asteroid striking the planet in one of the exact places required to trigger these follow-up effects is an extremely low probability event. But that event changed the history of life on Earth, according to the study's authors. And it created a space where mammals and eventually humans could thrive.</p>     <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/noaa-winter-weather-prediction-unusually-warm-2017-10">Scientists predict an unusually warm winter this year in most of the US - here's why</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs might not have killed them all if it hit somewhere else

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/3d-illustration-brontosaurs-looking-upon-meteors-408550594">Shutterstock</a></span></p><p class="caption">An illustration of asteroids striking Earth during the age of dinosaurs.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>A city-size asteroid or comet is thought to have killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.</strong></li><li><strong>The impact, called the Chicxulub event, released unfathomable quantities of dust and gas, rapidly cooling the entire planet.</strong></li><li><strong>The angle of impact was recently recalculated, and </strong><strong>computer models suggest that means the event led to a global cooling disaster far worse than previously estimated.</strong></li></ul><p><br />Fighters may prefer to land straight-on punches, but when it comes to asteroid and comet impacts, scientists are discovering that angled strikes can be far more dangerous. </p><p>The dinosaurs had a rough go when a space rock the size of a city struck Earth 66 million years ago, near what is now the city of Chicxulub on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.</p><p>Until recently, researchers thought the asteroid or comet hit nearly straight-down, at a 90-degree angle, but recent drilling expeditions at Chicxulub crater (at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico) suggest it happened at a more-stilted 60-degree angle.</p><p>Scientists already knew that the impact - called the Chicxulub event - released an amount of energy roughly equivalent to 40,000 <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-weapons-stockpiles-world-map-2017-8">US nuclear arsenals</a> in a matter of seconds, triggering a terrifying chain of events. The blast ignited global firestorms, blew hurricane-force winds for thousands of miles, crushed coastlines around the globe with massive tsunamis, and shook the entire planet, leading to massive landslides and earthquakes around the globe.</p><p>Some now-extinct species might have survived these calamities, however, were it not for a more drawn-out killer: global cooling. The dust and gases released into the upper atmosphere by the smash-up bounced much of the sun's energy back into space for years. This dramatically chilled the planet, the thinking goes, leading to the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, in which some 75% of lifeforms perished.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Wikimedia Commons/NASA</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>According to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074879" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a study published Monday</a> in Geophysical Research Letters, new computer simulations using the recently revised angle suggest the Chicxulub event released more than three times more climate-cooling sulfur gas than previously thought.</p><p>"We wanted to revisit this significant event and refine our collision model to better capture its immediate effects on the atmosphere," Joanna Morgan, a geophysicist at Imperial College London, said in an American Geophysical Union <a href="https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-10/agu-dai103117.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">press release</a>.</p><p>The model Morgan and her colleagues created suggests that the sulfur gas from vaporized rock and seawater could have dropped global surface temperatures by an <em>average</em> of nearly 47 degrees Fahrenheit almost overnight. Such temperatures may have lasted for several years, until most of the aerosolized sulfur fell out of the sky.</p><p>But sea life may have suffered much longer. It may have taken "hundreds of years after the Chicxulub impact" for oceans to rewarm, according to the study.</p><p>"These improved estimates have big implications for the climactic consequences of the impact, which could have been even more dramatic than what previous studies have found," Georg Feulner, a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said in the release.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cambridge-study-disproves-130-year-old-dinosaur-origins-theory-nature-2017-3">A shocking new study just disproved the 130-year-old theory about where dinosaurs came from</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs triggered a global disaster far worse than scientists previously thought

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asteroid-earth-elements-this-image-furnished-155504771">Shutterstock/NASA</a></span></p><p class="caption">An illustration of comets and asteroids striking planet Earth.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Scientists have long known that an asteroid slammed in Earth and created the Chicxulub Crater, which contributed to the dinosaurs' extinction 66 million years ago.</strong></li><li><strong>Scientists have struggled to determine whether the volcanic activity or the global cooling that resulted from the asteroid impact were more responsible for the extinction event.</strong></li><li><strong>Now a study has revealed that the crash also triggered massive volcanic activity in the world's oceans, further changing the picture of how the dinosaurs went extinct.</strong></li></ul><p><br />When <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-strike-cretaceous-paleogene-extinction-2017-11">an asteroid hit Earth some 66 million years ago</a>, it triggered devastation around the world.</p><p>There were at least three nearly simultaneous events involved in the global catastrophe that ended what we now call the Mesozoic era. An <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-more-sulfur-rapid-climate-cooling-2017-11">asteroid between 10 and 15 kilometers in diameter slammed</a> into Earth, creating the Chicxulub Crater near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The Deccan Traps, a massive volcanic province in what's now India, erupted, spewing lava and smoke that filled the skies. And 75% of Earth's plant and animal life went extinct, which scientists have linked to those other disasters that filled the skies with soot and smoke and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-strike-cretaceous-paleogene-extinction-2017-11">transformed the world's climate</a>.</p><p>But when it comes to world-shaking devastation, that wasn't all that was going on at the time, scientists report in a <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/2/eaao2994.full">study recently published</a> in the journal <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> Advances.</p><p>The asteroid also appears to have sent ripples through Earth's tectonic plates, which spread out through the oceans and caused tens of thousands of miles of underwater volcanic ridges to spew magma. The authors <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-bad-news-for-dinosaurs-chicxulub-meteorite-impact-triggered-global-volcanic-eruptions-on-the-ocean-floor-91053">describe those eruptions as</a> "on par with the largest eruptive events in Earth's 4.5-billion-year history, including the Deccan Traps."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Shannon Stapleton/Reuters</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Looking for past volcanic activity</h2><p>Part of the debate about what really killed the dinosaurs has to do with the interplay between the asteroid impact and the Deccan Traps eruptions. The most up-to-date understanding suggests the Deccan Traps eruptions began before the Chicxulub impact. But they also seem to have gotten much more active in the time after the asteroid hit.</p><p>Yet if the asteroid was able to influence volcanic activity on the other side of the globe, it should have affected volcanoes elsewhere, too. That's why the authors of this study decided to trace what was happening in the oceans.</p><p>To uncover evidence of underwater volcanic activity, the researchers used existing data to examine how the seafloor's structure changed over the past 100 million years.</p><p>They were able to find evidence of massive transformations in the amount of rock on the seafloor, a change caused by volcanic activity. Eruptions left 650-foot-high piles of rock in the Indian and Pacific oceans, the study authors <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-bad-news-for-dinosaurs-chicxulub-meteorite-impact-triggered-global-volcanic-eruptions-on-the-ocean-floor-91053">write in The Conversation</a>. They dated those eruptions to within a million years of the impact, close enough to link the events.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>iStock</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>A better picture of the dinosaur apocalypse</h2><p>These new findings give us a better timeline of what happened to trigger the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.</p><p>Although the Deccan Traps were probably erupting for 250,000 years before the Chicxulub asteroid slammed into the planet, the impact transformed the world. The atmosphere filled with soot, causing global cooling that was strong and sudden enough to have played a strong role in the end of the dinosaurs.</p><p>At the same time, the asteroid shook the world and led to earthquakes that released even more magma. The already flowing Deccan Traps erupted in a whole new way, essentially covering the Indian subcontinent with lava and further filling the skies with particles that reflected the sun's heat back into space and cooled the planet. An eruption that was equally strong occurred underwater.</p><p>Small mammals and flying dinosaurs - which we now know as birds - survived, but the majority of plant and animal life did not.</p><p>We still don't know exactly which components of these global catastrophes were most responsible for the extinctions, or whether other volcanic systems elsewhere in the world were triggered, too.</p><p>"What is clear is that this new research points to global-scale connections between catastrophes, a good reminder that events happening on the other side of the planet can have effects felt everywhere," the <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-bad-news-for-dinosaurs-chicxulub-meteorite-impact-triggered-global-volcanic-eruptions-on-the-ocean-floor-91053">study authors write</a>.</p><p>What is very clear is that this was an unpleasant time to be anywhere on Earth.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-discover-99-million-year-old-dinosaur-tail-feathers-2016-12">Scientists uncovered a bloody, feathered dinosaur tail that got stuck in tree sap 99 million years ago</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

You Searched For "paleogene" and got 6 results

One of India's ancient geological features might have helped kill off the dinosaurs millions of years ago!

Ankush Banerjee

Scientists think they've found the origin of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. It could help prevent a future mass extinction on Earth.

Jenny McGrath

Rats, roaches, and other creatures are winning against climate change, and it's bad news for humans

Ellyn Lapointe

The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs might not have killed them all if it hit somewhere else

Kevin Loria

The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs triggered a global disaster far worse than scientists previously thought

Dave Mosher

The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs triggered devastating underwater eruptions - which changes how we understand their extinction

Kevin Loria

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