Overview

• New research suggests that massive volcanic eruptions, not a meteorite, may have been the primary cause of the dinosaur extinction.
• The Deccan Traps, a large volcanic region in Western India, released a significant amount of sulfur and fluorine into the atmosphere, causing global temperature drops known as 'volcanic winters'.
• These 'volcanic winters' could have lasted decades, making life difficult for all plants and animals and setting the stage for the dinosaur extinction event.
• The sulfur release from the Deccan Traps occurred in the 200,000 years before the end of the Cretaceous, shortly before the asteroid impact.
• A 2021 study also found that the Deccan Traps could have released enough carbon-dioxide to cause a runaway greenhouse effect, adding to the environmental stress on the dinosaurs.