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Tanat Tai Sangwong

Mr. Abel Cadias
English 10/ 10:02
May 17, 2016

How The Dinosaurs Actually Died

The extinction of dinosaurs was not caused by meteorites, but because of a sudden climate

change that affected their habitats, food resources and adaptation according to research. The

purpose of this research report is to argue that dinosaurs died because of climate change not

meteorite or asteroid. The importance of this research report is to provide awareness that a climate

change leads to the extinction of dinosaurs. The information of this research report based on eight

sources. First, scientists from Plymouth University in Norway discovered evidence that the

greenhouse climate of the Cretaceous period was punctuated by a sudden drop in global

temperatures in the article Climate Change and the dinosaur. Second, Bauer in Queensland

museum states in her article Why did the dinosaurs die out? that the climate in Cretaceous period

became warmer combined with the eruption of volcano leads to the mass extinction of dinosaurs.

Third, History.com staff points out that the evidence in Mesozoic Era proves that the planet slowly

became cooler. Fourth, Brugger says in his article How the darkness and the cold killed the

dinosaurs that Global air temperature dropped by at least 26 degree Celsius, and caused the death

of dinosaurs. Next, an article entitled How the darkness and the cold killed the dinosaurs points

out that the asteroid is one of the reasons why there was a decrease in temperature because the

droplets of sulfuric acid resulting in long-lasting cooling and were likely to be the contributor to the

death of land-living dinosaurs. Seventh, Walt Bonner describes in his article The dinosaurs dies a

cold, dark death, new study shows that the global average temperature was below the freezing

point for about three years, which was obviously a bad new for life on Earth. Lastly, Bonnie
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Sachatello-SawyerDon and Liza Charlesworth wrote an article entitled Why did all dinosaurs

become extinct? that explains

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about a big meteorite crashing into an earth, changing the climatic conditions so dramatically that

dinosaurs could not survive.

The Climate Change in Cretaceous Period

In dinosaurs period, there were one main age which called Mesozoic age, and it can be

classified into three main periods, which are Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous period. However, the

extinction of dinosaurs was in Cretaceous period. The Cretaceous period was a geologic period and

the last and longest segment of the Mesozoic era, and it lasted about 79 million years. The event

that caused the death of dinosaurs in this period is climate change, which caused by the movement

of world-continent pangea. According to Ben Waggoner(1995), the breakup of the world-continent

Pangea began during the Jurassic period, and this caused to increase floras and faunas between the

northern and southern continents. In the late of cretaceous period, there was a movement of

continent called continental Drift. The continental drift was caused by the volcano and lava in the

earth that erupted caused the worlds continent to move. While the lava moving inside of the earth

crust, it brought the continent to move along with it. Scientists said that the effect of the continent

drift caused the sudden change in climate, which make the temperature dropped and that was why

dinosaurs started to die, and scientists also noticed that in the late of cretaceous period, many plants

and animals started to adapt to cooler climate, so scientists can summarize that the earth was slowly

changed.

How Dinosaurs Died because of Climate Change?

In Cretaceous period, the world started to get cooler, and the animals started to adapt

themselves to live in cold climate. For example, some mammals began to adapt to the temperature

by developing their thicker fur. This explains that continents had moved very fast in last 140 million

years, and it caused the extinction of dinosaurs. According to Emic(2014), dinosaurs were not both

cold and warm blooded, but they were mesotherms. Meaning that they used their energies in the
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rate of between mammal and reptile, and they needed food and resources in order to live.

Unfortunately, the climate in cretaceous period slowly started to get cooler, and the plants started to

die. Therefore, the dinosaurs that were herbivore died, and if there were no plant eating dinosaurs,

then the theropod, which is carnivore dinosaurs, also started to die. The research team, led by Dr

Gregory Price of the University of Plymouth, found evidence in fossils and carbonate materials that

preserved in marine rocks in the region of a temporary shift to cooler glacial conditions around 137

million years ago. This is one of the evidences that shows why dinosaurs died out. However, some

people may thought why the crocodile did not die like other dinosaurs. So because crocodiles were

exceptionally well adapted, they lived near water, they were smarter than dinosaurs and they were

cold blooded.

Evidences Found

There are many evidences that show how dinosaurs died because of climate change.The first

evidence was iridium that found in volcanoes. According to Andrew( 2011), lots of iridium didnt

occur because of meteorite, but there were the eruption of many volcanos in cretaceous period

because iridium stored in the rock that melted in volcanoes so it's split after the volcanoes erupted.

Also, scientists can prove that in the late of Cretaceous period, the plants started to change to live in

cooler climate, which can be presumed that the world started to become cooler, and the dinosaurs

didnt like it. Therefore, they started to die. Another evidence is a permanent global climatic change.

There is evidence that there were changing in climate at the end of the Cretaceous period. These

changes may have been the result of a massive disturbance, which threw up soot into the air,

causing short term acid rain, and emission of poisonous gases. Finally, the last evidence was the

fossils that found in marine rocks. According to Price(2014), The scientists found evidence in

fossils and carbonate materials in marine rocks in the region of a temporary shift to cooler glacial

conditions around 137 million years ago.

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Conclusion

The purpose of this research report was to discuss that the dinosaurs did not die because of

meteorite. This research report concluded that the dinosaurs died because of climate change due to

the evidences that found in Cretaceous period. In the late of Cretaceous period, the climate started

to become cooler, and the plants started to adapt themselves to cooler climate. It can be assumed

that the dinosaurs did not like the cold weather, therefore, the change in temperature had a negative

effect to the adapting abilities of the dinosaurs. Also, the dinosaurs needed energy in order to live,

but since the temperature in the late of cretaceous period slowly started to drop, their food sources

decreased, which cause the dinosaurs to starve. For that reason, the dinosaurs also began to die. This

research report recommends further studies on the reasons why climate change occurred in the

Cretaceous period.
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References

Climate Change and the dinosaurs. (2010, April 26). Retrieved March 28, 2017,
from https://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/04/26/climate-change-and-the-dinosaurs/

Bauer, A. (n.d.). Dinosaurs Climate Change and Biodiversity. Retrieved March 28, 2017,
from http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/microsites/dino/02-dinosaur-extinction-theories/climate-
change.html

History.com Staff. (2010). Why Did the Dinosaurs Die Out? Retrieved March 28, 2017,
from http://www.history.com/topics/why-did-the-dinosaurs-die-out

P. (2017, January 13). How the darkness and the cold killed the dinosaurs. Retrieved March 28,
2017, from https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-01/pifc-htd011317.php

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). (2017, January 13). How the darkness and the
cold killed the dinosaurs. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 27, 2017
from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170113133043.htm

How darkness and cold killed the dinosaurs. (2017, January 17). Retrieved March 28, 2017, from
http://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2017/01/17/darkness-cold-killed-dinosaurs/

The dinosaurs died a cold, dark death, new study shows. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2017,
from http://www.foxnews.com/science/2017/02/02/dinosaurs-died-cold-dark-death-new-
study-shows.html

Why Did All Dinosaurs Become Extinct? (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2017,
from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/why-did-all-dinosaurs-
become-extinct/