After the impact, scientists theorize that several events occurred. First, huge amounts of dust and debris were thrown high into the atmosphere. This dust was then carried all around the world by the upper atmospheric winds, filtering or blocking out the sunlight. At the same time, heat from the blast may have created firestorms—huge forest fires that added smoke, ash, and particles to the already dust-filled atmosphere. If the dust-filled winds did not kill the animals, the lack of sunlight would have killed off plants, creating a serious crisis. The animals feeding off of the vegetation would die, and in a domino-like effect the rest of the organisms in the food chain would die off, including the dinosaurs.