The fatal crash

Many researchers wonder why dinosaurs became extinct.

They know that this happened sixty-five million years ago due to a global winter caused by the fall of a comet or asteroid.

In a recently published study, however, researchers used a computer simulation to show that the cause of the extinction was not the collision itself, but primarily the angle at which the asteroid crashed into Earth. This was about 60 degrees.

»For the dinosaurs, the worst-case scenario is exactly what happened. The asteroid landed on Earth at the most deadly angle. The asteroid strike unleashed an incredible amount of climate-changing gases into the atmosphere, triggering a chain of events that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. This was likely worsened by the fact that it struck at one of the deadliest possible angles,« explained lead researcher Gareth Collins of the Imperial College of London.

A huge amount of sulphur was released that covered the Sun. At that time, in addition to dinosaurs, 75 percent of all living species became extinct.

Points to Consider

1. Do you know which plants or animals survived the big extinction?
2. Which group of animals has its origin in the descendants of surviving dinosaurs species?
3. Why is Sun so important for life on Earth?

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The original version of this article was published on June 11th.

English translation courtesy of JL Flanner, Total Slovenia News, an English language website with news from and about Slovenia.