Scientists have studied what might happen if a big asteroid hit Earth next century. They wanted to know how we could survive such a disaster.
Earth has not been hit by a large asteroid for a long time. But space has many rocks that can come close to our planet.
One of these rocks is called Bennu. It may hit Earth in 2182. The chance of this happening is small, about 1 in 2,700.
Scientists in South Korea studied the effects of a Bennu impact. They found that a collision could throw 400 million tons of dust into the sky.
This dust would block sunlight and cause the Earth to cool by 4 degrees Celsius. Rainfall could also decrease by 15 percent.
Plants would struggle to grow, and food supplies would be at risk. But some underwater plants like algae could grow faster because of nutrients in the dust.
In the past, medium-sized asteroids hit Earth every 100,000 to 200,000 years. This means that our ancestors may have lived through some of these events.
The study is in the journal Science Advances.
Vocabulary List:
- Asteroid /ˈæs.tə.rɔɪd/ (noun): A small rocky body orbiting the sun especially in the region between Mars and Jupiter.
- Impact /ˈɪm.pækt/ (noun): The force of a collision; the effect or influence of one thing on another.
- Collision /kəˈlɪʒ.ən/ (noun): An instance of two or more objects coming together with force.
- Nutrients /ˈnjuː.tri.ənts/ (noun): Substances that provide nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life.
- Supplies /səˈplaɪz/ (noun): The total amount of something that is available for use.
- Rainfall /ˈreɪn.fɔːl/ (noun): The amount of rain that falls in a given area in a specified period.
