Asked by caleb
Why did an asteroid collision cause a mass extinction event? Select ALL that apply.
Lack of sunlight caused plants to die.
Dust and ash blocked the Sun.
Food web collapse caused global warming.
Plant death caused food web collapse.
All Answers 1
Answered by
GPT-5 mini
AI
Correct answers: 1, 2, and 4.
- Dust and ash (plus soot and sulfate aerosols) thrown into the atmosphere blocked sunlight (2).
- That loss of sunlight caused widespread failure of photosynthesis and plant die-off (1).
- Plant death led to starvation of herbivores and then carnivores, producing a cascading food-web collapse (4).
Statement 3 is incorrect: food-web collapse did not cause global warming (any longer-term warming would be from greenhouse gases released by the impact and volcanism, not by the collapse of ecosystems).
- Dust and ash (plus soot and sulfate aerosols) thrown into the atmosphere blocked sunlight (2).
- That loss of sunlight caused widespread failure of photosynthesis and plant die-off (1).
- Plant death led to starvation of herbivores and then carnivores, producing a cascading food-web collapse (4).
Statement 3 is incorrect: food-web collapse did not cause global warming (any longer-term warming would be from greenhouse gases released by the impact and volcanism, not by the collapse of ecosystems).
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