"We now have great confidence that an asteroid was the cause of the extinction. This triggered large-scale fires, earthquakes measuring more than 10 on the Richter scale, and continental landslides, which created tsunamis."
She added: "The final nail in the coffin of the dinosaurs happened when blasted material was ejected at high velocity into the atmosphere. This shrouded the planet in darkness and caused a global winter, killing off many species that couldn't adapt to this hellish environment."
SHOOT: One could also say that they died from sudden onset climate change which followed the asteroid collision.
But the real reason why the dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago has now been identified - a collision with a gigantic asteroid that blocked out the sun and caused an extended global winter.
Arguments about the sudden demise of the dinosaurs - the largest-ever land creatures - have raged for decades with no conclusion. Now, an extensive investigation by 41 leading experts from around the world has found that the asteroid explanation is the only one that stands up to rigorous scientific scrutiny.
The scientists reviewed more than 20 years of evidence from various scientific disciplines and found that the only serious contender to the asteroid theory - a series of massive volcanic eruptions - could still not account for the sudden disappearance of not only the dinosaurs but about half of all species that lived at the same time in prehistory.
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clipped from www.nzherald.co.nz
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