New research indicates Earth experienced severe environmental disruption in the decades following the asteroid impact that caused the dinosaur extinction.

What it means

The item reports new research, covered by New Scientist, indicating that Earth endured severe environmental disruption for decades after the Chicxulub asteroid strike that ended the non-avian dinosaurs about 66 million years ago. The point is that the post-impact world did not quickly stabilise: the study's 'bad decades' involved prolonged ecological and climatic upheaval that shaped how life recovered.

Accuracy & sourcesGrounded

This is reputable secondary reporting on a named primary study, so the existence of the finding and its broad conclusion are solid. The exact study title, methods, and quantified timescale are not specified in the item, so those details should be read from the New Scientist article itself.

How new

Genuinely new: the coverage was published on 22 October 2026, reporting newly released research.

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