Study finds dinosaurs perished within two hours of asteroid impact
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A new study reveals that the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago killed the dinosaurs within the first one to two hours. The impact generated a global heat wave that ignited spontaneous wildfires, destroying terrestrial life almost instantly. The findings challenge earlier models that emphasized longer-term climate disruption.
The First Two Hours
Researchers led by Brandon Johnson concluded that the 10-kilometer-wide asteroid’s impact released enough energy to set the entire planet’s vegetation ablaze within the first hour. The resulting heat wave raised surface temperatures to lethal levels, killing organisms directly rather than through subsequent cooling or acid rain. The team modeled the immediate thermal pulse and fire propagation to arrive at this timeline, which they say explains the fossil record’s abruptness. The asteroid’s dimensions have been compared to Mount Everest, underscoring the sheer magnitude of the energy involved. Johnson stated that nearly everything was destroyed in that first one- to two-hour window.
Reevaluating Extinction Mechanisms
For decades, the leading theory pinned the mass extinction on a prolonged impact winter caused by dust and aerosols blocking sunlight. This new analysis, however, argues that the initial firestorms and scorching heat were the primary driver. The findings align with geological evidence of soot layers and charred plant matter deposited at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary worldwide. By refocusing on the impact’s direct thermal effects, the study suggests that the extinction’s peak was compressed into a period shorter than many current models assume. Johnson emphasized that the data strongly supports the idea of a catastrophic, nearly instantaneous die-off.
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