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The Chicxulub impact event is credited with causing the extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs around 66 million years ago. Now, a study in Nature suggests that dinosaurs could have survived if the asteroid had landed in an ocean or almost any bit of land that wasn't loaded with hydrocarbons:
[...] the extraterrestrial impact happened nearly anywhere else, like in the ocean or in the middle of most continents, some scientists now say it is possible dinosaurs could have survived annihilation. Only 13 percent of the Earth's surface harbored the ingredients necessary to turn the cosmic collision into this specific mass extinction event, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports [open, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14199-x] [DX]. "I think dinosaurs could still be alive today," if the asteroid had landed elsewhere, Kunio Kaiho, a paleontologist from Tohoku University in Japan and lead author on the study, said in an email.
Other researchers questioned their findings.
When the asteroid, which had a diameter about half the length of Manhattan, struck the coast of Mexico, it found a rich source of sulfur and hydrocarbons, or organic deposits like fossil fuels, according to the researchers. Scorching hot temperatures at the impact crater would have ignited the fuel. The combustion would have spewed soot and sulfur into the stratosphere in sufficient quantities to blot out the sun and change the climate, setting into motion the collapse of entire ecosystems and the extinction of three-quarters of all species on Earth.
[...] Eighty-seven percent of Earth's surface, places like most of present day India, China, the Amazon and Africa, would not have had high enough concentrations of hydrocarbons to seal the dinosaurs' fate. But if the asteroid had hit marine coastal areas thriving with algae, which would have included present day Siberia, the Middle East and the eastern coast of North America, the bang would have been about as devastating to the dinosaurs and life on Earth as the Chicxulub impact.
Humans should burn off all of the hydrocarbons and tar sands in the Earth's crust, so we can make our species more resistant to impactors.
Also at DW, The Atlantic, and Live Science.
Related: Asteroid Impact That Killed Off the Dinosaurs Quantified
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday November 10 2017, @04:51PM (2 children)
I bet you didn't glance at the paper [nature.com], which is open access.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 10 2017, @05:37PM (1 child)
Methods
Model calculation
We used a coupled atmosphere–ocean global climate model developed at the Meteorological Research Institute, MRI-CGCM3.
I have often voiced my opinion of models. Those models make assumptions, much like autonomous car and other robotic software makers make assumptions. That is, that the developer has included all - that is ALL - relevant data. Software in general, including models, as well as robotics, are only as good as the developer's insights. If the developer puts garbage in, you'll get garbage out - GIGO.
What truly amazes me, is that people TRUST software so much. People today already show a willingness to climb into a car, and go to sleep - or whatever. And, we have read a few stories about why that is such a terrible idea. The software is pretty good, but it's NOT UP TO THE TASK OF SAFELY GETTING YOU HOME.
Now, in this case, I can't argue any one "fact" that they use in their model. But, I'd sure like to tear that model apart, to see how many assumptions and/or presumptions they have made in building the model.
Other scientists have expressed their doubts. I've concurred with those other scientists. I have my doubts. Give it time - if they are talking out their asses, it will eventually be exposed. If they know what they are talking about, there will be follow up studies that tend to confirm their findings. But, I do have my doubts.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 10 2017, @05:38PM
Mehhh - I should have put that first part in quotations, or even a blockquote -
"Methods
Model calculation
We used a coupled atmosphere–ocean global climate model developed at the Meteorological Research Institute, MRI-CGCM3."