Scientists Reveal That It Was Not The Impact Of The Asteroid That Killed Off The Dinosaurs

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Contrary to popular belief, the extinction of the dinosaurs was not caused by an asteroid strike.

Sixty-six million years after their extinction, scientists at Belgium's Royal Observatory believe they have finally discovered the true cause.

Approximately 165 million years had passed since the Chicxulub asteroid crashed with Earth, wiping out 75% of the dinosaur population.

It was expected that the asteroid would do significant damage because it is estimated to have had a diameter of between 11 and 81 kilometers.

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Scientists referred to the asteroid hit as a "mega-tsunami" because the waves it created were more than a mile high.

However, dinosaur extinction was not caused by this either.

Researchers claim that after the asteroid impact, a cloud of "ultrafine dust" was generated and stayed in the atmosphere for up to 15 years.

The dust particles were reportedly between 0.8 to 8.0 micrometers in size.

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Large amounts of vegetation will have died off because of the "dust-induced changes in solar irradiance" that are thought to have caused the Earth's surface to cool. 

These changes in solar irradiance lasted for over two years.

The Royal Observatory of Belgium continues to clarify in a news release: "The prolonged disruption in photosynthesis constitutes a sufficiently long timescale to pose severe challenges for both terrestrial and marine habitats.”

"Biotic groups that were not adapted to survive the dark, cold, and food-deprived conditions for almost two years would have experienced mass extinctions."

Another factor preventing photosynthesis was the soot and sulfur left over from wildfires.

Researchers sampled 'the uppermost millimeter-thin interval of the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary layer' in order to obtain their results.

Pim Kaskes, a geologist and geochemist at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), said, "This interval revealed a very fine and uniform grain-size distribution, which we interpret to represent the final atmospheric fall-out of ultrafine dust related to the Chicxulub impact event."

"The new results show much finer grain-size values than previously used in climate models and this aspect had important consequences for our climate reconstructions."

The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA) researchers also made contributions to the study.

However, this research reevaluates the factors behind dinosaur extinction and challenges the asteroid theory.

It reveals that ultrafine dust altered the climate and disrupted ecosystems, offering a new perspective on Earth's history.

It also highlights the evolving nature of scientific inquiry, helping us refine our understanding of the past and its impact on today's world.