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- Asteroid impact ends all life—NASA proves.
- Asteroid ensures devastation.
- Catastrophe will happen if asteroid hits
- Cumulative effects of a strike will kill the planet
- Extinction level asteroid is due in the next 100 years
Asteroid Impact – ExtinctionStrike kills ozone, causes acid rain, and volcanic eruptions, leading to global extinctionMarusek ‘7 (James, nuclear physicist & engineer, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, “Comet and Asteroid Threat Impact Analysis,” http://www.aero.org/conferences/planetarydefense/2007papers/P4-3--Marusek-Paper.pdf) The ionization of the air during a large comet or asteroid impact will produce large volumes of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide carrying it well up into the stratosphere, where these aerosols will severely damage and destroy the ozone layer.29 As a result; high levels of ultraviolet radiation, that is normally shielded by the ozone layer, will reach the surface of the Earth. Ultraviolet radiation can cause serious sunburn, increased incidences of skin cancer and eye damage. Ultraviolet radiation can cause some genetic damage in plants, but the damage will be limited. The ozone molecules will be steadily regenerated by solar radiation after the impact. Complete regeneration and recovery could take several years.30 Mass fires and volcanic activity can produce large volumes of hazardous or poisonous gases including carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride.2,31,32 Breathing several of these gases can result in severe lung damage, lung edema and death.2 Fortunately, many of these very deadly gases will react quickly with moisture in the air and convert to a less dangerous acid mist. In normal to high humidity environments, this conversion will take place within 1 - 4 miles (1.6-6.4 km). But under the following conditions, the range will be significantly greater: • Dry, arid desert environments. • Winter freezing environments that produce very low humidity levels. • High elevation in the atmosphere where the temperature is below freezing. • Very dense gas cloud concentrations. As these gases combine with the moisture in the air, strong acids will form. This intense acid rain including carbonic acid, nitric acid, hydrated sulfur dioxide, and hydrochloric acid will fall to earth.2,12,31,32 Some of the most intense periods of acid rainfall may occur within the few days immediately following the impact. These acid rainfalls may be very intense localized concentrations and a function of prevailing wind patterns. Acid rain can harm vegetation. Acid rain can pollute the waters in rivers, streams, lakes and oceans. This rainfall can contaminate drinking water for humans, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds. Slight acidification of the ocean can destroy calcareous nanoplankton. It can also produce large fish kills. In my opinion, the evolved gases from the mantle plume volcanism and the resulting acidification of the terrestrial and marine environments and the corresponding draw down of oxygen levels are the primary killer of life during past impact induced mass extinction events. A deep impact from a comet that penetrates the Earth’s crust can trigger massive mantle plume volcanism on the other side of the planet.4,5 In general; volcanoes release minute quantities of magma. For example, the Mount St. Helen eruption of May 18, 1980 produced only 0.5 km3 of magma. Large flood volcanic eruptions, on the other hand, can produce a significant up-tick of magma levels. The Lakagigar Eruption in Iceland of June 8, 1783, for example, produced 14.7 km3 of basalt. This eruption had a major stranglehold on the Northern Hemisphere for several years. Large-scale flood volcanic eruptions such as those associated with the end-Permian extinction (the Emeishan & Siberian Traps) released 3 – 5 million km3 of magma. The Deccan Traps associated with the end-Cretaceous mass extinction released 5 million km3 of magma. Volcanic eruptions produce several gases: water vapor, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen, hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, hydrogen fluoride and helium. Table 7 describes the gas concentration levels from volcanic activity similar to a mantle plume eruption.32 Massive mantle plume volcanism will release very high concentrations of light sulfur gases that will rise high in the atmosphere driving Earth’s albedo upward; blocking off sunlight. Very high concentrations of carbon dioxide being heavier than air will cling to the planet’s surface acting like a thermal blanket, holding in trapped heat. Magma thermal heat will be released (for the end-Permian and end Cretaceous extinctions this was on-the-order-of 5 years of solar heat energy). This is a significant quantity of thermal heat if the magma was release during a short time interval. The magma heat will turn the area thousands of miles near the mantle plume volcanism into a dark inferno. Forest will die and become bone dry. Volcanic induced lightning will ignite these forests producing great mass fires that will add to the scope of the disaster. In my opinion, acidic gases released from magma were the leading cause of the past ocean and terrestrial mass extinctions. Asteroid impact ends all life—NASA proves.Glover, ’10 (Jason Glover, Online Marketing Expert and Technology Researcher, 8/30/10, “5 Natural Disasters Threatening the End of the World,” 6/21/11, The favorite 'weapon' of destruction in blockbuster Hollywood movies such as Armageddon and Deep Impact, asteroid impact is a very real threat and is what experts believed caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter is believed to have up to 1.7 million asteroids and more than 200 are already known to exist that are over 100 kilometer in size. NASA estimates there are between 500 to 1,000 near-Earth asteroids that are over 1 kilometer and one that is 32 kilometers. Collision with a comet travelling through the Solar System could knock any of them towards our world. A big asteroid impact on Earth would have a devastating effect, whether it hit the ocean or land, causing giant tsunamis or throwing enough dirt into the air to block out the sun and cause all life to either suffocate or starve to death. Asteroid ensures devastation.Armageddon Online June ’07, “What damage would an Asteroid Impact cause?” June 04, 2007, June 23, 2011, http://www.armageddononline.org/asteroid-and-meteor-impacts.html A near earth Object (NEO) does not need to be large to devastate. One the size of a small garage would annihilate a large city. One big enough to leave a 10km crater, still nowhere near the size of the biggest (there is a 300km crater on Earth), would have the destructive force of every one of the world's 10,000 nuclear warhead combined. Catastrophe will happen if asteroid hitsSunfellow ’95, David Sunfellow, a writer for the News Brief, BS in astronomy “Doomsday Asteroids”, Nov 17 1995, June 23, 2011, http://www.nhne.com/articles/saasteroids.html Using the moon's potholed surface as a reference point, Shoemaker set out to see how often celestial objects smashed into the moon and, by extension, also struck the Earth. With the help of modern satellite and aerial surveillance, Shoemaker and other scientists soon identified over 200 impact sites around the planet. One of these impact sites, which measured 100 miles across and which was buried a mile beneath the Earth surface, dated back 64 million years ago--the exact same time dinosaurs mysteriously vanished from the earth. Supporting the idea that whatever struck the Earth 64 million years ago unleashed a global catastrophe, geologists the world over have discovered a dark ring in the geological history of the planet that contains elements very common to asteroids, but very rare on Earth. The geological records above the dark layer contain records of mammals and other recent life forms, while the geological records below contain the records of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. The dark layer also bears witness to some kind of massive global firestorm. And while scientists still aren't sure how, exactly, the dinosaurs were killed off (or, for that matter, how exactly, two thirds of the rest of the Earth's species were killed off and 90% of the Earth's biomass burned up), there is evidence: The skies of the Earth exploded into flames Wild fires engulfed the planet's forests The skies were probably darkened for months, possibly for years All kinds of geological disturbances, such as volcanic eruptions and lava flows, were ignited Cumulative effects of a strike will kill the planetMarusek ‘7 (James, nuclear physicist & engineer, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, “Comet and Asteroid Threat Impact Analysis,” http://www.aero.org/conferences/planetarydefense/2007papers/P4-3--Marusek-Paper.pdf) A comet or asteroid impact event can release tremendous destruction which has been compared to the damage released from a very large thermonuclear explosion. This is a fairly useful analogy. The nuclear explosion effects are a well-studied science that can be directly applied to the study of impacts. This paper provides formulas for converting impactor size, speed and density into impact energy (megatons of TNT equivalent). The level of impact energy is then applied to nuclear weapon effects tables to provide estimates for the magnitude of damage as a function of distance from point-of-impact. As a means of validating the threat model, the analysis of damage effects integrates information gleaned from eyewitness accounts of impacts within recorded history and from geological information from early impact events. Impact effects are broken down into five main areas: shock wave, thermal radiation, debris and aerosols, electromagnetic effects and secondary effects. The shock wave section describes the atmospheric blast wave, ground shock and the water compression wave (tsunami). The thermal radiation section describes the flash and fireball. As the asteroid or comet strikes the Earth, the tremendous heat produced by the impact will melt and vaporize rock. The blast will also eject debris into the upper atmosphere and into space in a ballistic trajectory. The debris and aerosols section will cover this effect. The electromagnetic effects section describes the electromagnetic pulse, ionizing radiation and electrophonic bursters. The final section describes secondary effects including mass fires (conflagration and global firestorms); secondary earthquakes, landslides, volcanoes, & lava flows; dust & impact winter; gas evolution and acid rain (large volumes of gases can be released by an impact including nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride – some are hazardous or poisonous); upper atmospheric effects (such as expansion of the stratospheric envelope); oxygen depletion; magnetic pole reversals; energetic weather conditions (such as black rain); starvation and plagues. These effects are discussed in detail and an analytical assessment is provided. The following impact scenario is included as an Appendix within the paper. An asteroid strikes the Earth without warning. The asteroid 5.8 kilometers in diameter crashes into the Atlantic Ocean at Longitude 72° 49’ West, Latitude 28° 0’ North. The asteroid is traveling at a velocity of 20 km/s and has a density of 2.0 g/cm3. The asteroid is spherical in shape. It is not a binary asteroid. The impact occurs at 9:45 PM Eastern Time in the middle of June. The asteroid collides with Earth nearly head-on (2 degrees from true vertical) in a slight East to West direction. The scenario is assessed at the following locations: Bermuda, Washington D.C., New York City, town near Indianapolis, Chicago, Dallas, Lincoln, and Los Angeles. This scenario is beneficial to the discussion because it portrays the interconnectivity and timing of hazards and provides a methodology for describing the effects. An accurate assessment of impact hazards is absolutely critical in developing comprehensive disaster preparedness planning. Extinction level asteroid is due in the next 100 yearsGriffin ‘4 (Dr. Michael, Head of the Space Department John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, “Near-Earth Objects,” testimony before the Committee on Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space, Apr.7 CQ, lexis) Mister Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for giving me this opportunity to comment on the greatest natural threat to the long-term survivability of mankind, an asteroid impact with the Earth. Throughout its history, the Earth has continuously been bombarded by objects ranging in size from dust particles to comets or asteroids greater than 10 km in diameter. Although the probability of the Earth being hit by a large object in this century is low, the effects of an impact are so catastrophic that it is essential to prepare a defense against such an occurrence. The first step in that defense is a system to identify and catalog all potential impactors above the threshold of significant damage, approximately 100 meters in diameter. Later, the remainder of a comprehensive Earth-protection system could be assembled so that it would be ready to deflect a potential impactor shortly after it is identified. In 1998, NASA embraced the goal of finding and cataloging, within 10 years, 90% of all near-Earth objects (NEOs) with diameters greater than 1 km. Impacts by objects of this size and larger could result in worldwide damage, and the possible elimination of the human race. The current system is not sufficient to catalog the population of smaller NEOs. While there are thought to be nearly a thousand objects with diameters greater than 1 km, there are a great many smaller NEOs that could devastate a region or local area. The exact NEO size distribution is not known; however a good current estimate is that there are more than 5 times as many objects with diameters greater than 1/2 km than there are with diameters greater than 1 km. This multiplication of numbers for smaller diameters continues for all sizes at least down to those just large enough to make it through the atmosphere. Thus, if there are about 700 NEOs of 1 km or greater, there are more than 150,000 NEOs with diameters greater than 100 m. The Tunguska event in Siberia in 1908 destroyed an area 50 km in diameter and is believed to have been caused by an impactor less than 50 m in diameter. The average speed of objects colliding with Earth is about 20 km/s (about 45,000 miles per hour). At these speeds the energy of impact is 44 times the explosive power of the same mass of TNT. Thus, the energy released by the impact of a 100 m object is about equivalent to a 50 megaton bomb. The impacts at Tunguska in 1908, Sikhote-Alin (about 270 miles northeast of Vladivostok) in February 1947, and the recently identified objects that have had near misses with Earth, all show us that impacts with the ability to wipe a large metropolitan area can be expected during the next 100 years. Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. Objective files -> Pop Warner History files -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose files -> Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Program Data: Standard 1 Exhibit 4d files -> Hanban – asia society confucius classrooms network 2010 request for proposal files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations Download 1.03 Mb. Share with your friends:
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