Re: BBC NEWS Science-Nature Cold spelt end of dinosaurs

[Richard W Travsky <rtravsky@uwyo.edu>]

On Fri, 30 Aug 2002, Robert G. Tuck Jr. wrote:
> This just popped up on the BBC.
> 
>  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2225779.stm

This article sez

 Cold was killing dinosaurs long before the asteroid commonly thought to
 have been their downfall hit, according to scientists.
 ...
 Fossil evidence from the Drumheller valley in Alberta, Canada, covering
 7m years before the asteroid hit, shows that average temperatures dropped
 from 25C to 15C. 
 

But in June:

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2038599.stm
 ... 
 The researchers say analysis of fossil leaves from 65 million years ago
 shows there was a sudden and dramatic rise in carbon dioxide in the
 Earth's atmosphere.

 Only the impact of a large asteroid, vaporising billions of tonnes of
 limestone rocks, could have released so much gas so quickly into the
 environment, they believe.

 Their calculations suggest the change in CO2 levels would have led to
 catastrophic global warming, making it impossible for the ancient
 reptiles and countless other lifeforms to continue. 
 
Thermal shock after being cold? They all snapped like a rose dipped in
liguid nitrogen?