Scientists studying fossils and minerals from the Artic Svalbard of Norway believe that a sudden drop in sea temperatures during the Cretaceous period was a contributory factor to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Around 137 million years ago sea temperatures dropped by an amazing 9C (16F). This was caused by global warming owing to high concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere. Polar ice then melted lowering the temperature of the Gulf Stream. Consequent temperature falls would have been too much for many cold-blooded dinosaurs.

The traditional view of extinction is that it was caused by a cataclysmic event in the form of a meteorite colliding with the Earth. The Climate change theory would only have been effective in areas affected by the Gulf Stream. Dinosaurs that could migrate, dinosaurs in remote areas to the Gulf Stream and hot-blooded dinosaurs would not have been affected.