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scientist have revealed what would really happen to our planet if an asteroid the size of it of One World Trade Center smashed into it .
The finding were modeled on near - world asteroid Bennu , consider byNASAtopose the highest riskto our satellite in terms of proximity and wallop . The asteroid measures 0.31 miles ( 0.5 kilometers ) in diameter and weighs an estimated 74 million tons ( 67 million metrical lashings ) .
The likelihood that Bennu will crash into Earth in 2182 is very small, but not impossible.
" The contiguous effect of a Bennu - sized asteroid impact would do annihilating equipment casualty around the impact site,“Axel Timmermann , subject field Colorado - author and director at the Institute of Basic Science Center for Climate Physics at Pusan National University in South Korea , told Live Science in an e-mail . " But large amount of ejecta from the impact would have more foresighted - term effects on Earth ’s climate and could affect human society around the earth . "
Bennu is importantly small than the 6 - Swedish mile - panoptic ( 10 km)behemoth that create the Chixulub craterand wiped out the dinosaur about 66 million year ago . However , even a Bennu - size of it asteroid could drastically reduce global food product and lead to worldwide clime change , the research worker said in the study , release Wednesday ( Feb. 5 ) in the journalScience Advances .
Near the wallop the immediate consequences would be annihilating . " It would immediately get powerful shockwaves , caloric radiation therapy , tsunamis , earthquake , crater , and ejecta around the collision site , " Timmerman enjoin .
However , the long - terminus effect of this collision would be global . " We concentrate mainly on the climatical and bionomical effect of several hundred million oodles of dust into the upper atmosphere from the initial impact , " Timmerman said .
Using supercomputer models , the researchers showed that such orotund junk cloud could cool down global temperatures by as much as 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit ( 4 degrees Celsius ) and reduce global rainfall by approximately 15 % .
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" The solar dimming due to dust would do an disconnected global ' shock wintertime ' characterized by trim back sunshine , inhuman temperature and decreased downfall at the surface , " Timmerman aver . This would slow plant growth on land and photosynthesis in the sea .
In totality , the models auspicate up to 30 % decrease in orbicular plant life photosynthesis as well as a 15 % reduction in global rainfall , threatening global food security department . The authors total that this change in conditions pattern could last for more than four long time after the initial impact .
The debris plume would also deplete the ozone bed . " serious ozone depletion pass in the stratosphere due to strong stratospheric warming get by the solar absorption of dust particle , " Timmerman say .
Not every organism would support , however . If the impact create especially iron - rich junk , certain types of sea algae may blossom , the model showed . The researchers aver that these alga could offer up an choice to food production on land , but the algae may also throw sea ecosystems out of rap .
How likely is it that Bennu will hit Earth?
While it is important to consider these risk of infection , Bennu has just a 1 in 2,700 prospect of hitting Earth in 2182 , Timmerman pronounce .
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Still , NASA scientists are memorise as much as they can about the outer space rock music , which is believed to have broken off from a larger asteroid between 700 million and 2 billion years ago .
In 2016 , NASA scientist sent itsOSIRIS - REx spacecraftto the asteroid to collect sample from its Earth’s surface . Thesamples were brought to Earth in 2023 , and thefirst results of their analytic thinking were revealed last hebdomad .
Samples from Bennu contain all five of the " missive " that make up life ’s genetic codes — DNA and RNA — alongside minerals rich in carbon , sulfur , phosphorus , atomic number 9 and Na — the basic building blocks for life .
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