New Research Suggests Asteroid Dust Plumed Atmosphere for 15 Years, Triggering Dinosaur Extinction

Study finds that dust from asteroid impact likely blocked sunlight for two years, initiating global cooling up to 15 °C and resulting in collapse of the food chain; theorized to be the main agent of the Cretaceous-Tertiary Mass Extinction event.

• The recent study suggests that the asteroid impact led to the ejection of about 2,000 gigatons of dust into the atmosphere, blocking the sun's light and disrupting photosynthesis which led to global starvation and potentially resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs.
• Most of the living organisms, including both herbivores and carnivores, starved to death due to lack of food supply which was caused by the absence of sunlight essential for photosynthesis, the primary food production mechanism used by plants.
• While sulfur from the asteroid’s impact and soot from wildfires that ensued had been speculated as the leading causes of the global darkness, the new study posits that the asteroid dust was primarily responsible for the nuclear winter and subsequent mass extinction.
• The fine dust maintained in the atmosphere due to the impact could have caused global cooling of the earth’s surface by as much as 15 °C in the initial aftermath of the impact, suggesting a substantial change in the global climate.
• Though the devastating effects were most potent during the first couple of years, the dust plume's impact lasted for nearly a decade and a half. As a result, global effects persisted for over 15 years after the asteroid event, contributing significantly to the terrestrial biome's collapse.

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