Here's what happened and why it's not accurate to say that a single meteor wiped out all life:
* The Chicxulub impact: A massive asteroid, estimated to be 6 miles (10 km) in diameter, slammed into Earth near the Yucatán Peninsula. This impact caused a chain of devastating events:
* Massive wildfires: The impact triggered widespread fires across the globe.
* Tsunamis: Gigantic waves, possibly hundreds of feet high, surged across the continents.
* Dust clouds: The impact threw massive amounts of dust and debris into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight and causing a global winter.
* Acid rain: Sulfur released from the impact created sulfuric acid, which fell as acid rain.
* Extinction of many species: These catastrophic events led to the extinction of around 76% of plant and animal species, including the non-avian dinosaurs.
* Survival of some life forms: While many species perished, some survived. Small mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and insects were able to adapt and thrive in the changed environment.
The Chicxulub impact was a massive extinction event, but it did not wipe out all life on Earth. It created a new evolutionary landscape, allowing for the rise of new species, including humans.
Important to note: While the Chicxulub impact is the most widely accepted explanation for the dinosaur extinction, there were other factors at play, including volcanic activity and climate change.