wiped

the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs created a “primordial soup” of new life

by

Approximately 66 million years ago, a huge asteroid, 10 kilometers wide, fell on the Yucatan Peninsulain Mexico, causing such a violent impact that it wiped out three quarters of the plants and animals that then populated the Earth, including all non-avian dinosaurs. This has been well known for a long time. However, now something else has just been discovered. And the impact occurred in the perfect place for the proliferation of a hydrothermal system that laid the conditions for the proliferation of underground life for 8 million years. It wiped out the dinosaurs and a large number of animals, but it left us with ideal conditions for many new microorganisms to thrive. Said in a colloquial and extremely summarized way: the chickens that come in are the ones that come out. 4 times longer than established. An international team of scientists has carried out a study that combines data from rock samples extracted from the crater left by the asteroid and computer models of the geological behavior of the impact. Thus, it has been concluded that, when this occurred, immense heat was generated, which melted the rocks that in turn met the also hot water of the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, a porous material filled with pockets of water was formed, very conducive to the proliferation of microbial life. In fact, these types of studies had been carried out previously. However, both computational and chemical analysis methods were less advanced, so the duration of the resulting hydrothermal system was underestimated. Initially it was thought that it could have lasted about 2 million years, but this study points to 4 times more. The key is in the feldspar. In 2016 took place Expedition 364, in which a team of scientists traveled to the Chicxulub crater200 kilometers in diameter, to study the trail left by that asteroid 66 million years ago. They took several rock samples, including a feldspar very rich in potassium. The formation of this type of feldspar rock is common in hydrothermal systems such as the one formed by the asteroid impact. Therefore, this rock was chosen to carry out the appropriate analyses. Over time, thanks to a technique known as argon-argon dating, it has been possible to see that this rock was forming in the crater from 66 million years ago, as expected, until 58 million years ago. Therefore, it was 8 million years of hydrothermal system. Techniques advance. These impacts are extremely rare, but it is even rarer for them to result in such long-lasting hydrothermal systems. There is no known one so extensive caused by an impact, in fact. Therefore, thanks to advances in computer modeling techniques, it has been analyzed which conditions at the impact site favored this phenomenon. Combining data from Expedition 364 drilling with geological data extracted from previous modeling, it was concluded that there were three key factors: the high permeability of the rock, the sustained heat of the impact and the natural geothermal conditions of the site. Very interesting applications. Understanding this is very useful for two reasons. On the one hand, because it gives us information about the formation of life on the early Earth. And, on the other hand, because it also helps us understand how this would originate on other planets, where these types of collisions are much more common. Searching for life in space is like looking for a needle in a haystack. We all agree that it is necessary to narrow the search area. Initially it was thought that it should mostly be searched for planets that are within their habitable zone. That is, at a suitable distance from its star so that there can be liquid water. But today we know that there are other factors, like the absence of nearby black holeswhich may be relevant. Now, we also know which craters are the perfect places to start looking. All thanks to the asteroid that so long ago wiped out the dinosaurs. Image | Magnificent In Xataka | Now you can find out which dinosaurs were your neighbors thanks to this fun interactive map

The super Niño of 1877 wiped out 4% of the world’s population. The one that is already beginning to form promises to be worse, but what does that mean in 2027?

by

In the last week, El Niño has become suddenly real. Media like Washington Post, BBC or countless media in Spanish have begun to compare what is coming to us with El superNiño of 1877, the event that “wiped out 4% of the world’s population.” And, stated this way, it is no wonder; The story is simple: “a Child Godzilla is coming and no one knows if we are ready.” That is why it is important to know what exactly we are talking about and if, in short, “we are all going to die.” How serious is the matter? As we said a few days ago, between March and May the reliability of ENSO forecasts is usually worse than normal (because the equatorial Pacific anomalies go through their transition phase). That makes everyone go with “lead feet”; but the data is worrying. Ben Noll of the Washington Post broadcast on May 8 that the North American Multi-Model Ensemble projected “the strongest El Niño on record” between October 2026 and January 2027, with a peak of +3.1 °C in November. They are big words. Above all, because the ECMWF is along the same lines. In the words of Diego Restrepo, “El Niño is rapidly intensifying, and now 8 out of 10 models point to a super event and four project the strongest one on record.” And this looks like 1877? That is Noll’s thesis and it has been repeated a lot in recent days. However, the comparison is misleading. First, because, although the models are pointing to a historical ENSO, they are still models. That is, we still have no idea what is going to happen. And, to be strict, until the models recover their full potential in June, we will not know well. Second because, as argued by Kimberley Reid, from the University of Melbournethe intensity measured in the central Pacific does not translate linearly into impacts. Taking into account everything that has changed in this century and a half at a climate level, the impacts may be completely different. And thirdly because El Niño of 1877 was not the cause of that catastrophe. Yes, it is true that he set the conditions for it to occur but, as noted Mike Davis in “Late Victorian Holocausts”what killed throughout that quarter of a century were colonial policies. And what happened in 1877? A strange combination between a superNiño, the Indian Dipole and a tremendously warm North Atlantic between the years 1876–78 caused a global drought. The problem is that, in a world governed by imperialism, grain exports did not stop and, as local resilience mechanisms had been dismantled, a famine occurred that killed some 50 million people. But the consensus is clear: no matter how intense El Niño was, it caused the problem of its management. And that, although it may not seem like it, is good news. A few years ago the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published a report with a clear warning: “climate-related disasters” have increased since the 1970s. Specifically, they have multiplied by five over the last five decades. According to their calculations, in the 1980s, 1,400 incidents were recorded – their tables include extreme weather, climate and water phenomena – and in the 1990s, just over 2,200. In the first decade of the 21st century, 3,500 were reached and during the last decade, which spans from 2010 to 2019, it was close to 3,200. Curiously, this increase in the number of disasters has coincided with a decrease in the number of victims. The WMO data is clearalso: from more than 50,000 deaths in the 1970s (incidents basically related to climate and water are taken into account) it went to less than 20,000 in 2010. From an average of 170 a day in the 70s and 80s, it dropped in the 90s to less than a hundred a day and to 40 at the beginning of the 21st century. What will happen? As Restrepo also points out“despite having more information and knowledge, today we have warmer oceans, much more vulnerable ecosystems and collapsing biodiversity. This could generate impacts on health and risks for food, water and energy security.” However, we are more prepared and more importantly we have time to prepare. The ball is in our court. Image | Ben Noll In Xataka | There are more and more extreme weather events. In return, they are leaving fewer victims than ever

There are meteorologists who are already comparing El Niño of 2027 with that of 1877, a catastrophic event that wiped out 4% of the population

by

We have been worried about El Niño for weeks and rightly so. One by one, the main weather forecasters have been warning us that curves are coming. It is true that on April 24, 2026, the World Meteorological Organization refused to call it “super”, but its refusal is purely terminological: what is clear is that everything indicates that “it could be strong or very strong.” Even Ryan Maue, one of the most controversial meteorologists of the moment (for his criticism of “climate alarmism”), has become nervous and has linked what is coming directly to the El Niño of 1877-78. That event wiped out 4% of the planet’s population. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and remember what El Niño is. By ‘El Niño’ we refer to a cyclical (although very irregular) climate phenomenon that has great effects on the global climate. Huge, in fact. If we exclude the stations, it is the most important source of annual climate variability from all over the planet. During the warm phase (that is, during El Niño), the absence of strong trade winds that cool the surface of the equatorial Pacific causes the temperature of that area of ​​the ocean to skyrocket. It is this, through different atmospheric teleconnectionswhich disrupts all the weather systems in the world. The effects are varied and change depending on the region (“drier conditions than normal in certain parts of the world; while in others it causes more precipitation. Some countries have to deal with major droughts and others with torrential rains”, says AEMET); But when we talk about temperatures there is no doubt: El Niño is synonymous with heat and, in many places in the world, hunger. That’s what happened in 1877. According to modern reconstructionsEl Niño of 1877-78 was the most intense since 1850: sea surface temperatures remained high for 16 months and, as if that were not enough, that coincided with two warm phenomena (in the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic). That triggered a drought of unusual magnitude. However, the 4% figure is problematic. Not because it’s not realbut because (firstly) it corresponds to a longer period that begins in 1877, but lasts until 1902. And, secondly, because the demographic catastrophe was not a direct effect of the climate, but the result of colonial policies: in many areas of the world they were forced to export grain to the metropolises despite famines. In this sense, transferring the mortality figures from that year to today (even if El Niño reached a similar intensity) is not serious. Although it can be expensive. We must not forget that the super El Niño of 97-98, one of the strongest ENSOs in recent years, caused numerous consequences that lasted for years: the estimates say which caused damage to global economic growth of around 5.7 trillion dollars. That is, we are not talking about an episode from 100 years ago, but something that happened 30 years ago and that draws the framework in which state policies have to work. Above all, because although Spain is not in the first row, the consequences can be global. We are no longer talking about diffuse teleconnections (more rain in some areas), we are talking about enormous economic pressure in international markets that have been having a hard time for years. Nobody is very clear what is going to happen, but we do know that we have to prepare for it. Image | Xataka In Xataka | “It is so extreme that it is difficult to believe”: El Niño forecasts depict an event of unprecedented intensity.

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.