German researchers have suggested a new theory about for cause of the extinction of dinosaurs about 66 million years ago. They claim that the formation of sulphuric acid clouds after the asteroid impact may have blocked the sunlight and resulted in long-lasting winters, destroying the food web and leading to the massive extinction.

Scientists at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany reconstructed the process of how tiny droplets of sulphuric acid formed high up in the air after the impact of the large asteroid and blocked the sunlight for several years. This subsequently had a profound effect on life on Earth.

Previous theories have suggested that a short-lived dust ejected by the impact led to the death of plants and dinosaurs, researchers said. However, according to the new computer simulations, the droplets resulted in a long-lasting cool-down, a likely contributor to the death of land-living dinosaurs, according to Livemint.

Scientists suggest that the effect could have been aggravated by a vigorous mixing of the oceans, caused by surface cooling, which served as an additional killing mechanism and severely disturbed marine ecosystems. Julia Brugger from PIK, the lead author of the study, said that the big chill following the impact of the asteroid that formed the Chicxulub crater in Mexico was a turning point in the history of the Earth.

This was the first time the scientists used a specific kind of computer simulation, which is normally applied in different contexts like a climate model coupling atmosphere, ocean, and sea ice. Brugger pointed out the advantages of the research, saying that they can now contribute new insights to understanding the much debated ultimate cause of the demise of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous era.

The study was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.