Around 66 million years ago, an asteroid or comet at least 10 kilometers (6 miles) in diameter impacted a few miles from the present-day town of Chicxulub in Mexico (hence it is dubbed as the “Chicxulub impactor”), at around 64,000 kilometers per hour (40,000 mph). The impact has created a crater (Chicxulub crater) more than 180 km (110 miles) in diameter. But, what’s more, the energy of the impact (which is equivalent of about ten billion Hiroshima atom bombs) vaporized the rock which was rich in sulfur compounds, filling the air with a thick cloud of dust, similar to that created by a catastrophic volcanic eruption. This cloud blocked out the sun at least for a decade and caused a global, dark winter: even in the tropics the temperatures were barely above freezing, and the average global temperature was below 0°C (32°F). Before the impact, the average global temperature was around 26°C (47°F), so this means a huge drop. And the recovery time was more than 30 years! The dinosaurs which had dominated the Earth for more than 150 million years were used to living in a lush climate and were already in decline, so non-avian dinosaurs couldn’t survive after the last deadly blow.
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Category Archives: Animals
Most species hold their geographic range if we limit global warming to 1.5°C, study says
If we limit global warming to 1.5°C rather than 2°C above the pre-industrial levels by the year 2100, the impacts of climate change would be much less dramatic, a new study says. According to the researchers, for vertebrates and plants, the number of species losing more than half their geographic range by 2100 will be halved when warming is limited to 1.5°C, compared with projected losses at 2°C. It would be even better for insects, the most diverse group of animals on Earth: the number is reduced by two-thirds.
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Top 10 Most Googled Crocodile Whys
Here are some of the most googled crocodile whys about crocodiles and the answers to them.
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Endangered animals more likely to get donated if they’re cute, study says
43% of Americans would be more likely to donate to an endangered species if it were cute, according to a study titled “Selective Sympathy: Comparing Sentiment Toward the Appearance of Endangered Species” published by African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). A team at AWF has surveyed 1k Americans on how much they know about wildlife conservation, and how much they’re willing to open their wallets to help endangered animals. Here’s what they found:
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What did Ancient Earth Look Like
I stumbled upon an amazing web page showing what did ancient Earth look like. On “Dinosaur Pictures and Facts” web page (dinosaurpictures.org), there’s also an interactive animation. On this page, you can either select the years (i.e. 600 million years ago) or jump to a particular event (i.e. first multicellular life) and see how ancient Earth did look like then. You can also remove the clouds and stop the Earth’s rotation if you want to.
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20 Amazing Lion Facts
The Lion (Panthera leo) is the second largest cat in the world, after the tiger. The lion and tiger are closely related and they share a very similar body type. As its scientific name suggests, Lion is one of the five members of the Panthera genus.Notes 1 Here are 20 amazing lion facts.
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Watch: The Man Who Flies With Migrating Birds
Using a two-seater ultralight aircraft built by himself, Frenchman Christian Moullec flies with migrating birds since 1995. In that year, dubbed the “birdman”, Moullec, saw that lesser white-fronted geese were struggling with their migration from Germany to Sweden. Inspired by the work of the famous Austrian ethologist Konrad LorenzNotes 1, known as “the man who walked with geese”, he decided to help them and built his handmade aircraft. Today, if the weather permits, he flies with birds almost every day and guides them through their journey. This stunning footage published by National Geographic shows Moullec, “the man who flies with migrating birds” guiding the flocks of vulnerable species in his ultralight and taking enthralled passengers with him. According to National Geographic, he takes tourists up to fly with birds from March through October.
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Top 10 Largest Crocodiles Ever Recorded
Crocodiles (subfamily Crocodylinae) or true crocodiles are large aquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Although they are big, they suffer from a prevalence of “big fish” stories and over-exaggeration. In the Internet age, photographs of crocodiles manipulated digitally to make the animal look much larger than it is. So, how big the largest crocodiles are actually? Here are the top 10 largest crocodiles ever recorded.
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20 Amazing Tiger Facts
The tiger (Panthera tigris) is probably one of the most exotic and beautiful animals in the world. It is one of the five species classified in the genus Panthera, others being the lion, leopard, jaguar, and snow leopardNotes 1. Here are twenty amazing tiger facts.
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CrocBITE: Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database
Where native large crocodilians and humans live close to each other, crocodile attacks on humans occasionally occur. In fact, only 6 out of 22 crocodilian species are considered dangerous to adult humans.Notes 1 And in those six species, only individuals 2 meters (6.6 feet) and longer in length are capable of killing adult humans. Two species, which are also the largest and most aggressive, saltwater crocodile and Nile crocodile have a well-known reputation for preying on humans. These two also have the most documented cases. Each year, hundreds of people die of either Nile or saltwater crocodile attacks. The mugger crocodile, which can be found throughout the Indian subcontinent and the surrounding countries, also very dangerous to humans, killing many people in India every year. Despite the American crocodile is considered to be less aggressive, a few (unverified) fatally attacks reported. Also, species/individuals smaller than 2 meters can inflict painful and dangerous bites on adult humans and they even capable of killing children. Even then, according to the Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database most interactions between crocodiles and humans are non-eventful.
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