No one really knows, but several researchers think this may have been possible. These scientists studied huge hurricanes called hypercanes, monster storms that grow much larger than modern hurricanes, especially if the ocean water is greatly warmed. They believe a large impacting meteorite struck or a major volcano erupted in shallow ocean waters, causing the ocean water temperatures to rise, doubling the temperatures we currently find in the tropics. This increase in water temperature could have created immense hypercanes. In turn, the storms could have carried water vapor, ice crystals, and dust high into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight and destroying the protective ozone layer that shields animals from the ultraviolet radiation of the Sun. The effect could have devastated the dinosaurs. Scientists acknowledge the idea is a little far-fetched, but not impossible.