Dinosaurs Thrived After Ice, Not Fire, Says a New Study of Ancient Volcanism

The study presents evidence that instead of stretching over hundreds of thousands of years, the first pulses of lava that ended the Triassic were stupendous events lasting less than a century each.

Carbon dioxide and sulfates act not just in opposite ways, but opposite time frames. It takes a long time for carbon dioxide to build up and heat things, but the effect of sulfates is pretty much instant.

Gradually rising temperatures in an environment that was hot to begin with...may have finished the job later on, but it was volcanic winters that did the most damage, say the researchers.

This perspective shifts our understanding of the End Triassic Extinction and emphasizes how quick, catastrophic events can have long-lasting effects on global ecosystems.

Read at State of the Planet