|
9Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra Tammy’s views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle, his pastor, Tammy’s neighbors, Wayne Mayo, Betsy Johnson, Brad Witt, Former President Trump, Henry Heimuller, Joe Biden, Pat Robertson, Ted Cruz, Joe Biden’s dogs, or Claudia Eagle’s Cats. This Tammy’s Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or even reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she refuses to be bullied by anyone. See Bill’s Standard Disclaimer
|
|
How Did the Dinosaurs Die?
Global temperatures did not nose-dive as the result of the asteroid impact that caused the death of the dinosaurs. The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs did not trigger a long-lasting impact winter, as scientists have discovered after decades of research. 66 million years ago, a 6-mile-wide asteroid crashed into the Yucatán Peninsula and upset life on Earth. This event, called the Chicxulub impact, triggered a mass extinction that wiped out 75% of species, including all non-avian dinosaurs. We really don’t know for sure how the dinosaurs died. Scientists guessed that the impact stirred so much dust and dirt into the atmosphere that it triggered an impact winter, a period of sustained cooling which global temperatures plummeted. But with recent geology discoveries it tells a different story. Scientists found that there was no evidence for the impact winter. Their study detected temperature declines spanning 1,000 years or more. Scientists analyzed bacteria fossilized in coal samples from before, during, and after the Chicxulub impact. In reaction to temperature changes, these bacteria thicken or thin their cell walls as the temperature changes. The researchers found that in the periods after the impact, the bacteria didn't seem to be bulking up for winter. Instead, they found, roughly 5,000 years warming trend that become stable fairly quickly. These hot years may have been the result of super volcanoes burping CO2 into the atmosphere in the times leading up to the Cretaceous period's sudden end. Other scientists have a different opinion. The blanket of dust thrust up by the asteroid may have only remained in the atmosphere for a decade or even less, not noticeably changing global temperatures, but dipping Earth into darkness. Even a few months without the sun, would be enough to kill most of the plants in the world. With so many plants gone, herbivores would have struggled to find enough food to eat. As these species died, it would have sent repercussions up the food chain, killing off large carnivores and other species that depended on them. This event, while shattering, would have been a blip in the fossil record. As geology moves fast compared to time. Scientists agreed that there likely was a short period of cold and darkness at the start of the Cretaceous disappearance. But it doesn't seem to have set off a long-term cooling trend. Their findings show that Earth may be capable of rebounding from a climate-changing event faster than before thought, but not without generating a mass extinction for almost all life. Researchers have now decided to examine coal from more sites in the U.S. in order to piece together a record of temperature changes in the times leading up to the asteroid impact. They hope this data will help them unravel the effects of volcanism from the Chicxulub impact, and that the matches to volcanic warming give us a better idea of what to anticipate in our present climate calamity. One good thing about science, they are always discovering new information with new technology. There are so many undiscovered wonders in our world. New and exciting news every day. Maybe someday we will really find out why and how the dinosaurs died.
Tammy
|