Asteroids are small, rocky objects. Asteroids can bring tsunamis, shock waves and flattening winds that could be catastrophic. However, a car-sized asteroid (space rock) slams into the Earth's atmosphere about once in a year. On the other hand, an asteroid large enough to threaten the existence of life on Earth arrives once every few million years. Many scientists across the world believe the fact that asteroids will some day hit our planet. Now, a scientist has warned that an asteroid striking the Atlantic Ocean could wreak havoc by sending huge ripples of waves devastating surrounding coastal regions and affecting millions of people.
According to the report of express.co.uk, Dr Natalie Starkey, a scientist and the author of the book 'Catching Stardust' has warned about the repercussions of an asteroid impact in the Atlantic ocean. It is to be noted that 'Catching Stardust' is a book focusing on the biggest threats in the cosmos.
In the book, Starkey said, "If we fail in the future to protect the planet from space threats, then we could expect a large asteroid or comet impact to wreak havoc on the Earth's surface, resulting in major global changed and high death tolls. It's anyone's guess how many millions of people would be directly or indirectly affected by a tsunami radiating out from an impact location in the middle of the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean."
She further said, “A large comet or asteroid strike on land wouldn’t be much better, swapping water ripples for ground waves and resulting in huge shockwaves that would easily flatten buildings, at the same time as ripping up and melting the ground around the impact location.”
Starkey also claimed that space agencies like NASA will not be able to spot all near-earth objects that could pose a risk to humanity. As per Starkey, the space is so vast and mighty, and this is the main reason behind the failure to spot all risky objects approaching the earth for a probable collision.
It is worth mentioning here that asteroid 1999 RQ36, also known as 101955 Bennu, is a potentially hazardous object listed on the Sentry Risk Table with the second-highest cumulative rating on the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale. Investigators have already warned various space agencies that the space rock could be devastating if they do not act.