The news about our future is not always good. It seems like there is always a new apocalyptic crisis just over the horizon.
December 22, 2032, could be one of those bad days. It appears that Nasa has discovered an asteroid that “could” hit the Earth. Now we know from earlier asteroid impact history, this is not a good thing. The dinosaurs were wiped out and became fossil fuels thanks to a massive asteroid impact.
Life on Earth is fragile. It is very likely that life once existed on Mars until an asteroid took out that ecosystem. Life on Earth may have begun due to fragments of DNA from Mars, which were attached to asteroids that hit the Earth.
These ideas certainly would make exciting movies as we saw in Deep Impact and Armageddon. Giant tsunamis, earthquakes, erupting super volcanoes all would make Earth a place where life is gone.
The current asteroid threat is 130 -300 feet wide and is nicknamed the “City Killer”. It could also impact with our moon creating shrapnel that could hit the Earth. The chance of a moon strike is 8%. The chance of hitting the Earth is 0.28 %. The odds are small but…
If the asteroid hits the Earth, it would be equivalent to 15,000,000 tons of dynamite. That is 500 times more powerful than an atom bomb. The explosion, heat, shock wave, and damage could be catastrophic. Winter would become year around. An airburst is likely, which would increase the area of impact damage.
Earth is 71 % water, so this means tidal waves and massive flooding. Fish would be in trouble.
So, what do we do? Hopefully the smartest minds on the planet will figure out a way to deflect or destroy the threat. Hunkering down in bunkers may mean decades before returning to the surface. Extinctions would happen. The Earths ecosystems would need to re-boot and start over.
Facebook and all the media stupidity would be gone. No more cell phones. Survival would take on new meanings. International conflicts would be over, no more TV, food would be limited, life would change or disappear. This interstellar close shave may change. Maybe Elon Musk will have invented a weapon strong enough to address this asteroid and others that are surely in the future.
The truth is that there is always a risk of a cataclysmic event that could destroy life on Earth as we know it. That’s why it is important to celebrate our lives today. Be nice to others, share your fishing and hunting tips and tricks. Don’t be a scrooge and snob about what makes us all happy. The risk of a global catastrophe is more likely from things out of our control than Global warming and climate change.
I always laugh when I see the old Larson cartoon about the guys in a fishing boat with atomic mushroom clouds going off in the background. Maybe schedule a great guided fishing trip for Dec 22nd.
Kaboom!
Montana Grant
