1 August 2013
Rapid climate change occurred 12,900 years ago, and it is proposed that this is associated with the extinction of large mammals - such as the mammoth, widespread wildfires and rapid changes in atmospheric and ocean circulation.
All of these have previously been linked to a cosmic impact but the theory has been hotly disputed because there was a lack of clear evidence.
New platinum measurements were made on ice cores that allow conditions 13,000 years ago to be determined at a time resolution of better than five years, report Michail Petaev and colleagues from Harvard University. Their results are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23536567