Real heroes plan ahead: Collaboration to protect Earth from asteroids
It's unlikely to happen, but if a large space object ever hit Earth, the outcome would be calamitous. Humanity needs to start preparing now.
It's a staple of disaster movies: a huge space rock hurtles towards Earth and the hero gloriously self-sacrifices in a nuclear fireball to save humankind. In reality, saving the planet from an oncoming asteroid will be less action hero and more acting together: countries need to plan well ahead and synchronise their approach to make sure Earth is prepared.
But current preparation efforts are scattered and uncoordinated. International Asteroid Day is the perfect time to review how ready humankind is and what more remains to be done.
Near-Earth objects such as asteroids, meteoroids and comets imperil the planet. They have been implicated in previous mass extinctions, including that of the dinosaurs.
An object hitting land could produce a crater kilometres across, rattling faraway infrastructure and blanketing the planet in dust, with knock-on effects for the climate. An ocean splashdown could cause a tsunami higher than most buildings just a few hours later.
When space objects hit the Earth's surface they are called meteorites – and they have arrived within human history. The Kaali meteorite crater formed on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia, several millennia ago. Scientists still debate exactly when the meteorite landed and what its effects were for any humans living there at the time.
Even an object skimming through or breaking up in the atmosphere is dangerous. These objects are called meteors, and they have dangerously impacted Russia at least twice. On 30 June 1908, a still undetermined object blasted Tunguska in Siberia. It incinerated and toppled trees, and caused
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