Asteroid Impact

[John]

There is some talk on the Internet that we may not be as immune to an asteroid impact or other object from space as we thought. Now I am not concerned if this may happen, personally I think it is just a question of when not if.

The object of this posting is not necessarily to generate any debate but just to point you to a very good article in the Risks/Asteroid Impact on the files site.
This is Impact 201. It was written by James A. Marusek an American friend of mine some years ago. I would highly recommend you read it and may be print it out.
There are many other articles listed including Asteroid Scenario also written by the same author who has studied this at great depth. I think you will find this interesting reading.

[Scythe13]

Thanks John. I just hope the office is quiet tomorrow so I can get more reading done.

[Straight Shooter]

On RT this morning , they reported over 200 impacts since 2000 ....most off which could take out a city......I take my foil hat everywhere these days john.

[Barneyboy]

im not ruling anything out

[Tartar Horde]

It is an absolute certainty that at some point in the future Earth will be hit by a large asteroid or Comet. The main question is how big will it be, if larger than 3-4 miles it's not worth worrying about, enjoy what time you have left. Anything in the 1-2 miles category will produce continental wide destruction, and nuclear winter long enough to destroy crops and animals, although not severe enough to be total extinction, but very bad all the same.
Some things you just can't prepare for.

[Scythe13]

(25 April 2014, 13:21)Tartar Horde Wrote: The main question is how big will it be

I hate to disagree, but for me the main question is "Will I be alive when it happens?" haha.

Good info though TH. Where did you get that data from? Would be good to check into that kind of thing more.

[Tartar Horde]

The data for Asteroid/Comet impacts come from a range of studies and ground work carried out by Geologists, Palaeontologists and mathematicians.
The most well known academic work on the subject was carried out by
Nobel physicist Luis Alvarez, his son, geologist Walter Alvarez, and chemists Frank Asaro and Helen Michels, who investigated the Cretaceous Tertiary boundary which signifies the extinction of the Dinosaurs, and linked their evidence to show an Asteroid impact just off the Yucatan peninsula at a place called Chicxulub.
The global affects of the impact have been studied all around the World, as have the amounts of energy etc released.
research KT extinction event.
For a bit of fun here's where you get to play God and smite the unrighteous
http://www.purdue.edu/impactearth

http://impact.ese.ic.ac.uk/ImpactEffects/

[Skean Dhude]

Who ever said we are immune is well off the mark. We are not and never have been immune.

[SlyUrbanFox]

I remember being told many moons ago by my physics tutor that the probability of being wiped out by a space rock or being involved in a plane crash were exactly the same. However, you had a 50/50 chance of surviving the plane crash.
Sobering thought

[Skean Dhude]

That doesn't sound right. Thousands have died over the years in plane crashes. I've never heard of anyone being wiped out by a bit of space debris. Where is the supporting data?