The question of what caused the dinosaurs to go extinct has been the subject of much debate over the years. The main theory that is accepted today is that a large meteor hit the ground in Mexico, which caused massive explosions and changes in climate around the world that the dinosaurs simply could not survive.

While this seems to be the case, that theory often leaves people thinking that the dinosaurs were especially vulnerable to changes in the climate, which does not seem to be true.

A new paper published in the journal Science Advances shows that the dinosaurs survived at least one other major period of significant climate change. This time, caused by widespread volcanic activity.

The paper is based on research from scientists at Utrecht University as well as the University of Manchester.

In a statement about the paper, lead author Dr. Lauren O’Connor said:

“We were able to create a detailed ‘temperature timeline’ for the years leading up to the dinosaur extinction which we can compare to the fossil record to understand the relative timing of events.”

The findings showed that there was a period of cooling that lasted for around 10,000 years, which was previously not known about. This cooling dropped the average temperatures between 2 and 5° C (2.6-9° F), which is very significant.
They theorize that this was likely due to a period of very active volcanos that were erupting throughout much of the Earth. O’Connor comments:

“These volcanic eruptions and associated CO₂ and sulfur release would have had drastic consequences for life on earth. But these events happened millennia before the meteorite impact and probably played only a small part in the extinction of dinosaurs.”

The point is, that dinosaurs had survived previous shifts in climate. While many of them may have died, they were able to adapt and survive. The difference may be that the temperature would have dropped much more quickly as a result of the meteor impact than it would have from widespread volcanic activity.

The dinosaurs themselves, and perhaps more importantly, the food they ate, had a chance to adapt to the environment from the volcanos, but that simply would not have been possible from the meteor.

Dinosaurs survived some very rough environments.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.