The Great Extinction, the Solution to One of the Great Mysteries of Science: The Disappearance of the Dinosaurs

Usually, whenever a mass-market science book is published, unless the author's name is Stephen Hawking, both its sales and impact are quite modest. Sometimes, however, the external world intrudes onto the public's consciousness and the topic of that text may become unexpectedly hot and salesworthy. I predict such an uplifting fate for THE GREAT EXTINCTION by Michael Allaby and James Lovelock, and the reason is February 1, 2019. That is the date that astronomers have recently predicted that there is a modest probability that an asteroid may slam into the earth, causing catastrophic climatic results. It is generally accepted that the very long reign of the dinosaurs came to a crashing end some 65 million years ago when a six mile diameter asteroid collided with the earth off the southern coast of Florida. Allaby and Lovelock discuss the geological evidence for this calamity. They note the primary evidence is the world wide existence of a layer of iridium, an element that is not particularly abundant here but is common on asteroids. They describe the first moment of the impact: 'The sea blew up. Transformed into incandescent gas, the ocean leaped upward with a roar that would have been heard on the other side of the world.' They call this moment 'The Barrel of Fire.' This name is appropriate since the resultant release of energy would have equalled 5 billion Nagasaki-sized nuclear blasts. The destruction world wide had both short term and long term effects. For the short term: fire, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions. For the long term: nuclear winter, decades long darkness, complete destruction of most of the world's eco-systems. The proud dinosaurs, which had ruled non-stop for tens of millions of years, died out overnight. The tiny burrowing mammals that survived were the default new rulers, and from them evolved humanity. THE GREAT EXTINCTION is a must read for anyone who wants to know what could happen to humanity if by 2019 we have not yet learned how to delay, destroy, or deflect the oncoming cosmic rock. The mute fossilized evidence of the remains of the magnificent beasts that used to tread this planet ought to spur us on to meet this latest challenge to our briefest of reigns as lords of the earth.