The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago triggered one of the worst cases of climate change the world has ever seen, Daily Mail reported.

Following the cataclysmic asteroid impact, the planet endured a period of global warming that lasted for 100,000 years.

Known as the Chicxulub asteroid, the collision released billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which caused the temperature of the Earth to increase by five degrees Celsius (nine degrees Fahrenheit).

Researchers believe that understanding how the Earth reacted to severe global warming 66 million years ago could better equip them to deal with the ongoing climate change crisis.

With a diameter between six to nine miles (seven to 14 kilometres), the meteorite smashed into the Yucatan Peninsula, in Mexico, where the town of Chicxulub is found today.

The impact left behind a 125-mile-wide (200 kilometre) crater and triggered the mass extinction of 75 per cent of all life on Earth.

After the meteorite hit, the planet was rocked by tsunamis and wildfires, swiftly followed by clouds of sulphurous gas that engulfed the planet for decades.