Dinosaurs Extinction: Attributed to an Asteriod

 

So how did teh dinosaurs disappear?

Today, a Reuters report indicates that scientists are agreeable that they were done in by an asteroid smashing onto earth and the resultant environmental conditions no longer supported the continued existence for the dinosuars.

Let us read this report.

A giant asteroid smashing into Earth is the only plausible explanation for the extinction of the dinosaurs, a global scientific team said yesterday, hoping to settle a row that has divided experts for decades.
A panel of 41 scientists from across the world reviewed 20 years’ worth of research to try to confirm the cause of the so-called Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) extinction, which created a “hellish environment” around 65 million years ago and wiped out more than half of all species on the planet.

Scientific opinion was split over whether the extinction was caused by an asteroid or by volcanic activity in the Deccan Traps in what is now India, where there were a series of super volcanic eruptions that lasted around 1.5 million years.
The new study, conducted by scientists from Europe, the United States, Mexico, Canada and Japan and published in the journal Science, found that a 15km-wide asteroid slamming into Earth at Chicxulub in what is now Mexico was the culprit.
“We now have great confidence that an asteroid was the cause of the KT extinction. This triggered large-scale fires, earthquakes measuring more than 10 on the Richter scale, and continental landslides, which created tsunamis,” said Joanna Morgan of Imperial College London, a co-author of the review.

The asteroid is thought to have hit Earth with a force a billion times more powerful than the atomic bomb at Hiroshima.

Morgan said the “final nail in the coffin for the dinosaurs” came when blasted material flew into the atmosphere, shrouding the planet in darkness, causing a global winter and “killing off many species that couldn’t adapt to this hellish environment.”

Scientists working on the study analysed the work of palaeontologists, geochemists, climate modellers, geophysicists and sedimentologists who have been collecting evidence about the KT extinction over the last 20 years.
Geological records show the event that triggered the dinosaurs’ demise rapidly destroyed marine and land ecosystems, they said, and the asteroid hit “is the only plausible explanation for this.”

Peter Schulte of the University of Erlangen in Germany, a lead author on the study, said fossil records clearly show a mass extinction about 65.5 million years ago — a time now known as the K-Pg boundary.
Despite evidence of active volcanism in India, marine and land ecosystems only showed minor changes in the 500,000 years before the K-Pg boundary, suggesting the extinction did not come earlier and was not prompted by eruptions.
The Deccan volcano theory is also thrown into doubt by models of atmospheric chemistry, the team said, which show the asteroid impact would have released much larger amounts of sulphur, dust and soot in a much shorter time than the volcanic eruptions could have, causing extreme darkening and cooling.

Gareth Collins, another co-author from Imperial College, said the asteroid impact created a “hellish day” that signalled the end of the 160-million-year reign of the dinosaurs, but also turned out to be a great day for mammals.

“The KT extinction was a pivotal moment in Earth’s history, which ultimately paved the way for humans to become the dominant species on Earth,” he wrote in a commentary on the study.

The move by Bank Negara Malaysia to raise the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) by 25 basis has been expected by economists who are now projecting a further rise in the OPR by year end.

The central bank’s decision to raise the OPR to 2.25 per cent at its Monetary Policy Committee meeting this evening is expected, said Affin Investment Bank economist, Alan Tan. The stronger economic growth for the fourth quarter last year provided the room for Bank Negara to normalise interest rates after cutting it to a historical low last year, he said.

Tan said the process of normalising interest rates amid the backdrop of limited pressure on inflation coincide with the stronger-than-expected 4.5 per cent year-on-year gross domestic product growth in fourth quarter last year. He said with prevailing uncertainty in the global economic recovery, the increase in interest rates should not be seen as tightening of monetary policy but rather the normalising of interest rate which has been at record low, partly to address the issue of financial imbalances. Tan said he also expected a total of 50 basis points hike in OPR this year, which will bring the OPR to 2.5 per cent by end of the year.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd’s chief economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin said he expected an even bigger increase in the OPR, and was looking at 3.0 per cent as a strong possibility this year. “I expect they (Bank Negara) will increase 25 basis point at each Monetary Policy Meeting until July this year, then it will take a breather until end of the year,” he told Bernama, expecting the move to be gradual. He said the ringgit should gain some grounds following the OPR hike and strengthen further going forward, while the Government’s decision not to make a fuel price adjustment would ease the pressure of inflation this year. “With such a modest inflation outlook, I don’t foresee an aggressive monetary tightening campaign,” he said.

RAM Holdings Bhd chief economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng expected another 75 basis points increase in the OPR this year and expected the rise to be gradual and to the pre-crisis level. He said 3.25-3.5 per cent should be a normal level for the OPR to ensure sustainable growth in the country. Yeah said raising the OPR signalled Bank Negara’s confidence in the economic recovery.

“The confidence is rising. We can see that the GDP projection is achievable,” he told Bernama, adding that many were expecting GDP to grow as much as five per cent this year with the Government looking at 6.0 per cent. He also expected the ringgit to strengthen further this year, in line with other Asian currencies. Yeah also expect the local unit to hit 3.2-3.3 level against the US dollar by end of this year. “The uptrend will continue because of the recent Euro and Pound weaknesses. Asian currencies will appreciate faster than other currencies,” he added.

Malaysian Investors Association president Datuk Dr P.H.S. Lim attributed the hike in interest rate to the better economic performance in the last quarter of 2009, and the US Federal Reserve move to increase interest rate by 0.25 points to 0.75 points. With a better economic background, interest rate will move up in line with global economic growth and to combat inflation, he added.