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What Really Killed the Dinosaurs?

Until recently most scientists thought they knew what killed off the dinosaurs. A 10km-wide meteorite had smashed into the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, causing worldwide forest fires, tsunamis several kilometres high, and an ‘impact winter’ – in which dust blocked out the sun for months or years. It was thought that the dinosaurs were blasted, roasted and frozen to death, in that order.

But now a small but vociferous group of scientists believes there is increasing evidence that this ‘impact’ theory could be wrong. That suggestion has generated one of the bitterest scientific rows of recent times.