Are asteroids an active threat to the earth?

Question

Are asteroids an active threat to the earth?

Answer 1

Yes... stockpiling the tins of beans!

There's one they're observing at the moment that they were worrying would hit the earth April 13th 2029. My birthday... I'm going to make sure I'm too drunk to care that day.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/...

On a serious note, they are a continuous threat given the amount of times they are known to have struck earth before. They can cause extinction level events (ELEs) such as the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. Or just obliterate some areas if they explode just above the ground such as the one in Siberia in the early 1900s.

However, we, the human race, will probably destroy the earth far before the next asteroid comes along!

Answer 2

only the very big asteroids are a threat.

Answer 3

Partly yes and partly no. It is very rare that the astroids hits the human living places.

Answer 4

always we never really know when one may be knocked out of it's orbit and heads for earth.

Answer 5

Yes. They've struck Earth lots of times, and sooner or later it will happen again. It's inevitable.

Answer 6

i'd worry more about the muslims blowing the earth up!

Answer 7

Yes....check out the one in Russia in 1908 link below.

Its very likely we will be hit again but as the earth is 4.6 billion years old(happy birthday!) its unlikely to happen in our lifetime...or is it?

We can also worry about Yellowstone..its a super-volcano and explodes around every 600,000 years which is...about now

..its a scary universe we live in!

Answer 8

Yes, which is why I am a member of the NEO observation program!

Worryingly, very recent research indicates that an impacting asteroid need not be as massive as previously supposed to cause cataclysmic damage.

Until recently, it wasn't anything worth worrying about, as there was absolutely nothing we could do about it. But we are just developing technology that might give us a chance, if we have enough warning. Watch the skies! Watch the Skies!

Answer 9

Asteroids will always be an active threat of the Earth... For the mere fact that they are very unpredictable. Hopefully with the advancement of technology we will no longer have to worry about the continuing threat of an asteroid impact. Though i believe nobody will have anything to stop a mile wide asteroid for the next 10 to maybe even 30 years... Just my opinion hope this helps