Dinosaurs wiped out in ‘biblical’ catastrophe after asteroid strike

Dinosaurs met a hellish end as fiery brimstone rained down from the sky and broiled the Earth’s surface after a massive asteroid struck the planet.

The biblical horror continued with billions of tons of soot from the fires blotting out the sun and plunging the Earth into icy darkness for nearly two years, new research has shown.

In addition, large-scale destruction of the protective ozone layer high in the atmosphere led to Dna-damaging levels of ultraviolet radiation.

By the end of the disaster, more than three quarters of 0 The dinosaurs met a fiery end as giant asteroid struck species on Earth, including all the dinosaurs that did not evolve into birds, had been wiped out.

Scientists recreated the nightmarish aftermath of the meteor strike 66 million years ago using powerful computer simulations and evidence from the estimated 15 billion tons of fine soot left behind.

The 10-kilometre (6.2 mile) wide space rock smashed into a shallow sea off Mexico’s Yucatan peninsular, triggering earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and, worst of all, a burning rain of incandescent rock particles.

Soot from the fires swept up into the atmosphere by air currents blocked out 99 per cent of the sun’s light for around 18 months. During this time average temperatures plummeted by 28C on land and 20C in the ocean. Surviving plant life, deprived of photosynthesis, perished.