Tuesday, January 27, 2009

American comet impact disproved

ScienceDaily (2009-01-27) --

New data disproves the recent theory that a large comet exploded over North America 12,900 years ago, causing a shock wave that traveled across North America at hundreds of kilometers per hour and triggering continent-wide wildfires. Scientists tested the theory by examining charcoal and pollen records to assess how fire regimes in North America changed between 15 and 10,000 years ago, a time of large and rapid climate changes.

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1 comment:

  1. Actually the article doesn't say the comet never happened (see earlier article on nanodiamonds). There is no necessary contradiction between an asteroid hitting (explaining the nanodiamonds and some fire damage) and the probability of massive forest fires across the region thanks to a rapid warming period. Either way, fast moving forest fires can easily destroy the physical and economic base for a simple culture (and not so simple, too).

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