Fall is just around the corner and those leaves changing colors are just as wonderful as you remember. But did you ever think how the change of colors came to be?

It's because meteor struck the Earth, that's why. New research says the meteor that killed-off the dinosaurs and devastated the Earth is the reason why the tree leaves magically turn into something like a "fall wonderland" every year.

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Over 66 million years ago, a meteor hit off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Researchers from the University of Arizona concluded the meteor didn't just kill the dinosaurs.

The meteor also destroyed evergreen forests around the world. This event was called the "Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction,"

Due to this destruction of evergreens, deciduous trees began growing. In time, deciduous trees were able to adapt to the unstable changes in post-apocalyptic Earth.

Benjamin Blonder, lead author of the research, said the survival of the fittest didn't apply during the extinction event. It was more of like a "reset" for the planet. It's as if there was this red shiny button and someone just decided to redecorate the whole thing.

Blonder and his team studied over 1,000 preserved plant leaves found in rock layers located at the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota.

The researchers discovered the dramatic changes brought about by the meteor affected the growth of plants. From slow-growing to fast-growing, plants are now more of the deciduous variety that shed their leaves annually.

Plants before the extinction event were found out to be evergreen and they blanketed the earth.

Since fall is near and if you're just falling in love with the season, remember the meteor that struck Earth and pass the information on.

Tagsmeteor, change of seasons, fall, change of colors of leaves, killed dinosaurs, killed trees