Asteroid Impact What Are Our Chances

Asteroid Impact What Are Our Chances

What is at stake?
The largest near-Earth asteroids – those with a diameter of more than 1 kilometre – have the potential to cause geologic and climate effects on a global scale, disrupting human civilisation, and perhaps even resulting in the extinction of our species. Smaller near-Earth objects (NEOs) in the 140 metre to 1 km size range could cause regional or continental devastation, potentially killing hundreds of millions of people. Impactors in the 50 to 140 metre range are a local threat if they hit in a populated region and have the potential to destroy city-sized areas. NEOs in the 20 to 50 metre range generally disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere but can cause localised blast and impact effects.

Stephen Hawking thought an asteroid impact posed the greatest threat to life on Earth.