News Paleontology

Heat-trapping asteroid dust may have incinerated the dinosaurs within hours  

The global radiation pulse may have ignited vegetation and killed exposed animals

An illustration of a large asteroid hitting Earth, generating a fiery explosion.

Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid the size of Mount Everest slammed into Earth. The impact hurled vaporized rock into the atmosphere, which may have spelled the end for the dinosaurs.

MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/GETTY IMAGES

By Libby Riddle

Scientists have spent decades debating what killed the dinosaurs. Some say volcanoes triggered the dinosaurs’ decline a million years before the infamous asteroid hit 66 million years ago.