What would happen if a huge asteroid fell on Earth?

Theories, movies, groups of people even some news source. It has been mentioned once about whether a meteorite were to impact our planet. However, as it is a fact that we have never lived as a species and we have not been able to document, much has been imagined and speculated about. But… what would the consequences really be?

This year, some near-Earth asteroids have passed. A few days ago, the asteroid Florence, with a size of 4,4 km, passed close to our planet at a distance of 7 million km. Although it was not in danger, since it was at a distance of about 18 times what separates us from the Moon, it is very possible that many of you wondered what would happen if it had had a fatal outcome. For more inri, this coming October, asteroid 2012 TC4 between 15 and 30 meters in diameter, it will pass only 44.000 kilometers away.

Damage intensity according to size

In the first place, it should be noted that an impact from a small meteorite is not the same as an impact from a large one. Alone in the last 20 years, it is estimated that they have impacted about 500. Being small, it is possible that most ignore these data because they did not pose a risk. So by its dimensions, we can begin to say, the type of crater that they would leave and the damage that they would cause around it. In case they were bigger meteorites, worse damage.

A small meteor, 100 meters long, would cause a crater 3km in diameter and affect a 60km radius.

If the meteorite was 1km in diameter, here we would already find a 25km crater with a total destruction of everything that was on a 400km periphery.

With the larger meteoritesAs of a 10km start, we would already have serious problems. Its impact would cause a 200km crater with a total destruction of everything 3000km away.

Climate consequences that would be experienced on the planet

The entry into the atmosphere of one of these enormous bodies at more than 100.000km / h would cause, from the outset, a interruption of radio and television signals. Upon entering, they would follow hurricane winds in all nearby regions. Depending as we have said, the size that it had. Once it hit, whatever the zone was, a series of earthquakes would follow. Even in areas where they had not existed before. Then, from here, it could fall into areas where the earth's crust is more sensitive and they could even provoke eruptions of volcanoes depending on the point where it fell.

After the meteorite impact, a huge dense cloud would partially or totally cover the planet. A shower of debris in turn, would be thrown at first. That huge cloud would prevent the Sun from being visible for months. The cold would be marked on the thermometers and in the form of ice. Little by little, many plants would die. The areas most affected by this would cause the death of herbivorous animals. Their death would accompany the carnivorous animals also disappearing.

Real odds of a meteor hitting Earth

Thanks to paleontology and paleoclimatologists, the possibility of one of these events happening again has been studied. Based on the findings, we found that the impact of 1km-size meteorites occur every 2 million yearss. For the elderly, those of 10km, the probability decreases to 1 every 370 million years. Luckily, it is something that takes us very far. We can find here one of the reasons and theories that would explain the reason for the extinction of the dinosaurs.

As we cannot completely rule out that such a phenomenon may occur one day, NASA has already taken action on the matter. They even have experiments pending to deflect meteorites that could one day pose a real threat to us.

Hopefully all this is pure theory, and that we never have to witness the dire consequences of a gigantic rock against the planet.