English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

the end of human race

2007-02-22 10:40:50 · 2 answers · asked by the last moral man 1 in Science & Mathematics Astronomy & Space

2 answers

There is an asteroid called Apopohis which has a small chance of hitting the Earth in 2036. Scientist are not yet sure of its exact orbit. If it continues to look like it will hit the Earth NASA would send a probe in 2029 to find its exact orbit. If the orbit is confirmed to hit the Earth NASA would hit Apopohis with an impactor designed to change the asteroid's orbit.

2007-02-22 11:31:27 · answer #1 · answered by Twizard113 5 · 0 0

Best estimates are that asteroids in the 100m size range hit about once per thousand years.

One exploded over Siberia in 1908 (look up Tunguska in wikipedia), so perhaps we have about 900 years.

But even then 100m will only cause local damage, but that could be severe if it hits an urban area. However, although not appreciated by most people, who think people are overflowing the world, most of the Earth has not populated at all - 70% is ocean, and about another 20% is wilderness or desert. So chances are that even the 1 in 1000 years won't cause much mayhem.

Incidentally, none of the asteroids currently identified have anything but the tiniest chance of hitting us, certainly in your lifetime.

As far as an asteroid able to cause extinctions, they occur just every few million years.

So, relax.

2007-02-22 19:21:04 · answer #2 · answered by nick s 6 · 0 0

fedest.com, questions and answers