Study: Dinosaurs Were Roasted to Death After Chicxulub Impact
The Spin
Narrative A
Purdue scientists now suggest the dinosaurs weren't doomed by years of cold, sunless winter, but by something far more instant and merciless. Vaporized rock and falling debris trapped heat like a lid, unleashing a firestorm so intense it delivered 17 times the dose lethal to humans. In barely an hour, Earth's surface was likely scorched, sealing the fate of nearly everything caught in the open.
Narrative B
When the asteroid struck, the true killer wasn't the fireball, but the darkness that followed. Dust and sulfur wrapped the entire sky, blotting out the sun for years and dragging temperatures down with it. Without light, plants withered, then the creatures that ate them, then those that hunted those. It was this long, cold, sunless winter that quietly ended nearly three-quarters of all life on Earth.