Theasteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs ejected 2,000 gigatonnes of dust into the Earth's atmosphere and unleashed a climate catastrophe, researchers have revealed. Key points: Althoughthe asteroid strike that created Chicxulub crater in modern-day Mexico dramatically affected life on Earth, the fiery crash isn't the whole story of the fate of the dinosaurs. Aboutsixty five and a half million years ago, the Earth suffered its largest known cosmic impact. An asteroid or comet nucleus about 10 km in diameter slammed into what is now the Yucatan Asteroidimpact, not volcanism, caused the end-Cretaceous dinosaur extinction Alfio Alessandro Chiarenzaa,b,1,2 , Alexander Farnsworthc,1 , Philip D. Mannionb , Daniel J. Luntc , Paul J. Valdesc, Joanna V. Morgan a, and Peter A. Allison aDepartment of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington, SW7 2AZ Sixtysix million years ago, dinosaurs had the ultimate bad day. With a devastating asteroid impact, a reign that had lasted 180 million years was abruptly ended. Prof Paul Barrett, a dinosaur researcher at the Theimpact of the hit was so huge, and it resulted in the extinction of dinosaurs, then dominant species on the blue planet. is making a close approach with Around66 million years ago, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest smashed into Earth, killing off three quarters of all life on the planet—including the dinosaurs. Geologicsites are telling the story of the asteroid impact that abruptly changed life on Earth A massive asteroid hit the Earth 66 million years ago. The explosive collision rattled the planet and changed its climate. Dinosaurs that had walked the Earth for tens of millions of years vanished suddenly. Why remained a mystery for many years. 8Nm8E.