Glass bits, charcoal hint at 56-million-year-old space rock impact
Timing coincides with period of rapid warming perhaps sparked by comet
![charcoal](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/092816_TS_PETM_main.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
BURNING UP Bits of microscopic charcoal such as this were found along the U.S. Atlantic coast and imaged by an electron microscope. The presence of charcoal supports the idea that a large space rock hit Earth around 56 million years ago near the start of a bout of rapid warming, triggering wildfires.
M. Fung