Scientists have postulated on a massive meteorite attack such as is believed to have led to the extinction of earlier inhabitants of the planet. What if that iron rock was somewhat a size bigger than a golfball?
2007-01-06 06:56:01 · 12 answers · asked by leero a 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
Meteorites that big and bigger hit Earth all the time - they just don't usually land on houses. This most recent fall doesn't raise any alarm bells, though. Eventually we will get hit by a large meteorite, it's just a matter of time. It needs to be a lot bigger than golf-ball-size to do any major damage, though. To cause world-wide damage, it would need to be roughly a mile across.
There are lots of recorded, historical falls and explosions - one in particular you might want to look up is the explosion over Tunguska, back almost 100 years ago. Tunguska is in Siberia, which is a good thing - this explosion didn't kill any people, but if it happened over a populated area, like New York City, it would have been devastating!
2007-01-06 14:07:26 · answer #1 · answered by kris 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, this is of no concern. As I understand it, meteroites "hit" the Earth all the time. It's rare that a meteorite will survive our atmosphere. They'll usually burn up. If a meteorite is a lot bigger than a golfball, and would be on a collision course with the Earth, there wouldn't be a lot we could do about it anyway. When it's our time to go, we'll go. Hopefully when or if this situation would develop, it will not be any time in the near future. Best of luck to you....and us.
2007-01-06 07:00:51 · answer #2 · answered by cajunrescuemedic 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The syntax of your question is a tad confusing...all right a lot confusing...but the "iron rock" that hit the earth and (probably) caused the extinction of the dinosaurs was a lot bigger than a golf ball. A golf ball-sized meteorite isn't going to do much damage. And what recent meteorite hit in the US are you talking about? I haven't heard of one recently (although that doesn't mean much since I don't pay a lot of attention to the news).
2007-01-06 16:55:52 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-10-06 13:05:35 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It isn't much of a concern. There are some very big rocks out there but not all that many that cross our orbit. Radar tracking has the majority of them located already and their courses plotted. Those that we discover later will be plotted.
Can an big rock be deflected? Possibly and it depends on how soon it is spotted. A small fraction of a degree of deflection fr millions of miles away would do the trick easily. That's a very good use for all the nuclear weapons sitting around.
2007-01-06 07:07:48 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Meteor hit or no meteor hit, the probability of the Earth getting hit by something is constant overall. So, unless there was a substantial amount of cosmic material from which this "recent meteorite hit" hurtling at us on a wide field, we still stand the chance of being impaled by an object.
And a baseball-ish size piece of iron would pack plenty of force; as dense as iron is, I'm sure it could obliterate the entire floor of a 10'x10' room, or it would file your car under O for "Out of service ... forever."
2007-01-06 07:04:21 · answer #6 · answered by Sean D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We would all perish. It has, and will happen again. Just like this global warming thing. It has and will happen again, the earth is going through it's natural cycle.
When the meteor hits, hopefully it won't be big enough to destroy EVERYTHING, maybe something will survive, and multi cell organism, or even just a single cell organism. It will thrive and evolve and life will come back, and civilizations will come back, billions of years after the strike, and then the same worry about a strike will come again, and it will happen again.
A cycle.
It's a harsh but beautiful thing.
2007-01-06 07:07:29 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If is going to happen, it is already on the way. Question is can we see it long before it hits. We're looking, but there are a few ways it can come in and we'll never see it before it is too late.
2007-01-06 07:07:01 · answer #8 · answered by Sophist 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think its something to ponder. Maybe I've been seeing too many "Armageddon" programs on on the History Channel, but I think it is possible that one day, this world we know will come to an end, whether it is by nature or our own hand.
2007-01-06 06:59:01 · answer #9 · answered by di12381 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are many fall in every night and not one big enough to do any thing. Don't live in fear like that
2007-01-06 07:11:10 · answer #10 · answered by JOHNNIE B 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋