UK researchers studied the asteroid impact 66 million years ago (illustration shown). They found the heat near the impact site in Mexico was not intense enough to ignite plant material. A heat pulse lasted less than a minute, too short to set plants alight

Excerpt from dailymail.co.uk
By Jonathan O’Callaghan

  • UK researchers studied the asteroid impact 66 million years ago
  • They found the heat near the impact site in Mexico was not intense enough to ignite plant material
  • A heat pulse lasted less than a minute, too short to set plants alight
  • Further away in places like New Zealand, the heat could have lasted up to seven minutes and caused some localised fires
  • But the theory that a global firestorm accompanied the asteroid impact is not correct, according to the scientists


The theory that a global firestorm accompanied the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs may not be correct, according to a new study.
A team of researchers has found that heat near the impact site would not have been sufficient to ignite plants.
It suggests our understanding of the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs may not be as complete as thought.

UK researchers studied the asteroid impact 66 million years ago (illustration shown). They found the heat near the impact site in Mexico was not intense enough to ignite plant material. A heat pulse lasted less than a minute, too short to set plants alight
The team of researchers from the University of Exeter, University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London recreated the immense energy that would have been released from the asteroid impact 66 million years ago.
They found that the intense but short-lived heat near the impact site could not have ignited live plants, challenging the idea that the impact led to global firestorms.
These firestorms have previously been considered a major contender in the puzzle to find out what caused the mass extinction of life on Earth 66 million years ago.