Dinosaurs dying at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Volcanism is thought to be one of the main causes of the dinosaurs dying out. Click on image for full size (99 Kb) Courtesy of NSF

The most prominent theories about the cause(s) of the dinosaurs’ demise are based on the fact that scientific evidence shows us that at the time the dinosaurs died out, the Earth experienced increased volcanism as well as a number of major collisions with asteroids or comets. This extinction event is referred to as the the Cretaceous-Tertiary Mass Extinction or the K-T Extinction (because it marks the boundary between the Cretaceous Period, which is often abbreviated with the letter K, and the Tertiary Period), and it wasn't just the dinosaurs that went extinct--roughly two thirds of all of the plant and animal species on Earth disappears.

Most scientists believe that increased volcanic activity may have introduced dust particles into the atmosphere, causing a drop in photosynthesis (and plant growth). This would have weakened the Earth’s ability to support the ecosystems that thrived in the Cretaceous Period, and scientists believe that the problem was made much worse when one or more large asteroids impacted the Earth, throwing a massive cloud of dust and toxic chemicals like sulfuric acid into the atmosphere. It is commonly thought that this event poisoned the Earth’s atmosphere for years, making plant and plankton growth impossible and fatally disrupting food chains worldwide.

There are other factors that may have contributed to the dinosaurs’ extinction. For instance, during the Cretaceous Period, we know that the oxygen levels in the Earth’s atmosphere were much higher than today. This means that when a large asteroid impacted the Earth, there could have been large firestorms, which would have caused a temporarily increasedgreenhouse effect that could have killed off a large number of organisms. There is also evidence to suggest that the Earth’s sea levels dropped significantly during the K-T boundary, and although no one knows exactly what caused this, we can see that this could have caused widespread climate changes and contributed to the dinosaurs’ extinction as well.

There are other theories that are less widely accepted; for instance, some scientists believe that the dinosaurs went extinct because mammals became very good at eating the dinosaurs’ eggs. Others believe that there was a supernova explosion near Earth, and the radiation from this explosion poisoned the majority of life on Earth. No one knows for sure the reason the dinosaurs died out - it is a source of scientific debate. There are many scientists around the world still conducting research in order to test different theories and answer this question.

Dinosaurs dying at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Volcanism is thought to be one of the main causes of the dinosaurs dying out. Click on image for full size (99 Kb) Courtesy of NSF

Scientific evidence shows us that at the time the dinosaurs died out, the Earth experienced an increase in volcanic activity, and was also struck several times by asteroids or comets. Most scientists believe that these things could have affected the Earth in ways that would have it made it very hard for the dinosaurs to survive.

Increased volcanic activity may have thrown dust into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight and causing a drop in photosynthesis (and plant growth). This would have weakened the Earth’s ability to support the ecosystems that thrived in the Cretaceous Period. The same thing could have happened when one or more large asteroids impacted the Earth, and the combination of volcanoes and asteroid impacts may have poisoned the Earth’s atmosphere for years, making plant and plankton growth impossible and fatally disrupting food chains worldwide.

Other things might have helped cause the dinosaurs’ extinction. For instance, during the Cretaceous Period, we know that the oxygen levels in the Earth’s atmosphere were much higher than today. This means that when a large asteroid impacted the Earth, there could have been large firestorms, which would have caused a temporarily increased greenhouse effect that could have killed off a large number of organisms. There is also scientific evidence that the Earth’s sea levels dropped significantly during the K-T boundary, and although no one knows exactly what caused this, it could have caused widespread climate changes that might have made it very hard for the dinosaurs to survive.

No one knows for sure why the dinosaurs died out, and there are many scientists around the world still conducting research in order to test different theories and answer this question.

Dinosaurs dying at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Volcanism is thought to be one of the main causes of the dinosaurs dying out. Click on image for full size (99 Kb) Courtesy of NSF

At the time the dinosaurs and lots of other species died out (which is sometimes called the K-T extinction), there were lots of active volcanos on Earth. There were also some large asteroids or comets that struck the Earth around then. Together, volcanos and asteroid impacts may have thrown dust into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight and making it very hard for the dinosaurs to survive.

Other things might have helped cause the dinosaurs’ extinction. We know that the atmosphere and the oceans both went through large changes at the end of the Cretaceous Period, and the Earth's climate probably changed a lot, too.

Scientists around the world are still doing research in order to test different theories and try to learn what made the dinosaurs go extinct.