Could We Survive an Asteroid Impact?
If you’re bent toward home security, those pesky ‘what ifs’ probably keep you up at night. One of the more obscure, but oddly ubiquitous existential threats to humanity is the possibility of an impact by an asteroid. Somewhere out in the deep cosmos of space is a streaming asteroid on a collision course with earth. But how big is this ‘Doomsday’ Rock? And what are the odds of it hitting Earth? Our planet is pelted with space debris and negligible sized rocks everyday. Most of these space driven projectiles typically burn-up in our atmosphere. Those that do make it past our invisible space shield of hot, dense air invariably land harmlessly in a forest of trees or an abandoned field. Geologists are constantly unearthing evidence of celestial drive-bys and hit and runs. Most of these meteoritic discoveries can reveal the secret recipe to life beyond our grasps of understanding, but they don’t usually cause too much of an alarm. It’s like admiring a baby alligator that hasn’t yet grown in its adult teeth. It’s relatively harmless and you might be tempted to play with it if the mama gator isn’t around. But what about asteroids that are all grown up and have a menacing appetite for self-destruction while taking a few bystanders with it? To be clear as the night sky, we need to bring science into the equation before we get all hysterical. The probability of an asteroid hitting Earth are about 1 in 300,000 so it’s nothing to lose sleep over. Global Warming’s effects on our planet are more pressing and real than the stuff of Hollywood movies. But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened before and could again.
A ‘Mass Extinction’ Level Event
It’s no secret what killed the dinosaurs. About 65 million years ago, a large asteroid slammed into the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, effectively wiping off all life on our planet. Even bacteria was completely eradicated from the earth’s vast biodiversity of life. Such a large cataclysm would without a doubt wipe any trace of humanity off the planet. But what about smaller asteroids? How much damage could they render? On February 15, 2013 Russia received a late Valentine’s Day gift from the Chelyabinsk meteor that left a firm smooch mark on a Russian city when it exploded 18.5 miles above the Earth’s surface. The blast created a shock wave equivalent to 500 kilotons of TNT. More than 7,200 buildings in six cities across the region reported damages. No deaths were reported, but it could’ve been a completely different story had the asteroid made its impact into the Earth. This isn’t even the first time Russia has delt with large asteroid or meteor-like events. In 1908, a meteorite was believed to have flattened as many as 80 million trees over a 830 square mile area. Fortunately, the meteorite didn’t explode over a major populated area. While extinction level event asteroids are highly unlikely in our lifetimes, the chances of one wiping out an entire city or state remain alarming elevated. Imagine if such an asteroid exploded over a major American city? It would cause the same level of destruction as a nuclear bomb!
Preparing for The Unexpected
As we said before, there’s no way any of us would survive an asteroid the same size as the one that knocked out the dinosaurs, but we could still shield ourselves from much smaller events. Scientists at NASA and the US military have even teamed up to find a way to send a shuttle or satellite into space to try to throw off larger earthbound comets on a collision course with our planet. There’s even been some talk of firing lasers at any incoming rocks, but that still appears to be the works of science fiction. And again, we have to consider the much smaller meteors that fly under our radars. Think of it this way: two large meteorites exploded over the same corner of our world in a timeframe of just a hundred years! What are the odds? Pardon the pun, but they are indeed astronomical. And those are just the asteroid events that we know about! Astronomers completely missed the 2013 Russian comet burst, so we have to assume that smaller meteors will continue to strike with little to no warning. You have to approach asteroid protection the same way you would a tornado or even a nuclear bomb. All three events will give you mere moments to seek shelter, and that’s in a best case scenario. Belowground shelters from Elephant Safe Rooms might be your only saving grace from pending doom. Subterranean steel metal buried deep below the earth’s surface could give you enough breathing room from atmospheric meteoric bursts and maybe even a direct impact. Smaller meteoric blasts could also cause civil unrest. You will be glad you’re far away from the mayhem in your fortified steel bunker from Elephant Safe Rooms.