The Catastrophic Impact of the Asteroid

An asteroid, the size of Mount Everest, collided with Earth about 66 million years ago, resulting in a catastrophic event that radically altered life on the planet. The impact released energy equivalent to 5,000 times that of all nuclear weapons combined at their peak, vaporizing everything within 90 miles of the collision site. This incident triggered a series of violent geological events, creating towering tsunamis and ejecting large amounts of debris into the atmosphere. The aftermath included an intense fireball and a long-lasting winter caused by soot blocking sunlight, resulting in widespread extinction, including the dinosaurs.