What If an Asteroid Hit Earth in 2024?

Intro An asteroid is headed straight toward Earth. Initially, scientists thought it would miss us, but they've made some serious miscalculations. And now, it's headed right toward our giant blue marble. What happens next? This is WHAT IF, and here's what would happen Now, this sounds like a fun hypothetical, The Asteroid but an asteroid coming for Earth, it’s no laughing matter. It could happen. Scientists had thought that asteroid 99942, also known as Apophis, might hit Earth by the year 2029. Apophis was discovered in 2004, and scientists have been closely monitoring it ever since. At one point, research suggested that the asteroid had a 2.7% chance of hitting Earth. Yes, scary, I know but since then, new calculations predict that the asteroid will whiz by Earth at a distance of 30,000 km (18,641 mi). Now, considering that the Moon is 380,000 km (23,6121 mi) away, this asteroid will be incredibly close. But at least it won't be hitting us. Now, of course, calculations can be wrong. Let's say that in this case, they are. and Apophis is coming right toward Earth, way ahead of schedule. The asteroid is going to hit us this year. Ok, let's see what we're dealing with. Apophis is 340 m (1,115 ft) in diameter. For reference, that's taller than the Eiffel Tower. But is it the worst asteroid Earth has ever seen? Luckily for us, it's not even close. The Chicxulub asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was estimated to be 10 to 15 km (6.2 to 9.3 mi) wide. So now, we're dealing with Chicxulub's little brother. So what does that mean for us? Will humans go extinct from this impact? Well, more on that in a bit. But first, let's look at whether we have any chance of stopping this asteroid. Sorry about that. It’s another one of those spam calls that I get. Sponsor Constantly. Do you get them too? Like to the point where you don’t even bother answering your phone? Well luckily, the sponsor of today’s video, Aura, can help you with that. 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All in hopes of changing its velocity and trajectory. NASA has run some successful tests using this method, so that's an option. Next would be what's known as a gravity tractor. A large spacecraft would fly next to the asteroid. Over time, its gravitational pull would eventually change the asteroid's path. Laser ablation is next on the list of options. Yes, special lasers could be used to vaporize parts of the asteroid's surface. This wouldn't destroy the asteroid, but it could alter its direction as well as the size and impact of it. And last but definitely not least is is the final nuclear option. Yeah, that's right. As a final resort, we could nuke Apophis. And with the asteroid's massive size, as well as the lack of time we have before it hits us. This might be the only option. But don't be too quick to hit that red button. Nuking an asteroid can have some serious downsides. It could split the asteroid up, causing it to fragment. Then, you'd have dozens more minor asteroids and meteors coming toward Earth, making the impact even more devastating. And these wouldn't be just regular asteroids, either. Because of the nuke, they'd be radioactive. This would mean that significant parts of the world would not only be impacted with asteroids and meteors, but they'd also experience radiation levels only seen during nuclear warfare. So, what's the best option here? Well, it's tough to decide; let me think about this for a second. The Impact Oh, well, it’s too late now. We took too long deciding what to do, and now the Apophis will be here any second. Brace yourselves. You wouldn't get a good look at the asteroid impact, and that's because it landed somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This is the most probable spot an asteroid would land, considering the Earth's surface is mostly water. So you might not see the impact, but you'd definitely notice it. Once the asteroid hits our planet, it'd be as devastating as several thousand nuclear bombs going off, just with a lot less radiation. It would make a crater at the bottom of the ocean as big as a kilometer wide. And what happens next would be even more devastating. The massive impact would create giant tsunamis that would rage worldwide. Several hours after the asteroid touches down, cities along the Pacific coast would feel Apophis' impact. The tsunamis would travel across the Pacific Ocean at jetliner speeds. Places in North and South America, like California, Peru, and Chile, would face towering waves. Due to the energy caused by the asteroid, it would likely cause waves taller than 30 m (100 ft). Waves as big as this are responsible for one of the most devastating tsunamis ever. In 2004, Southeast Asia experienced a tsunami that generated waves over 30 m (100 ft) tall, killing over 230,000 people. But instead of waves like these reaching just a few countries, this would be a complete global catastrophe. Not only would the Americas experience these tsunamis, but so would Japan, Australia, and the Philippines. These places would all be devastated by the impact. Tsunamis like these would likely destroy millions of lives. So that's what would happen if an asteroid hit the ocean, but what if it made impact on land? Well, to start, the impact crater would be much more significant. We know that an asteroid's impact crater can be anywhere from 10 to 20 times the size of the asteroid itself. And now there isn't any water to soften the blow. So, the diameter of the crater could be as large as 7 km (4.3 mi) with a depth of over 1 km (0.6 mi). Depending on where it lands, this crater could be big enough to devastate entire cities. The initial impact would send a massive shockwave that spreads for hundreds of kilometers. This could destroy entire buildings and seriously damage infrastructure. It would throw tons of dust and debris into the atmosphere. It could get so bad that it could cause an impact winter. This would be caused by a dust cloud temporarily blocking the Sun, causing crops and vegetation to die out, which creates even more casualties. Something like this could last weeks or months and be an overall environmental catastrophe. This entire event, during and after, could cause millions of people to be killed, depending on where the asteroid lands. And we can only hope that an asteroid collision like this would land as far away from people as possible. But for the good news, if Apophis did somehow make an impact, it wouldn't cause a mass extinction like the Chicxulub asteroid did for the dinosaurs. The event would be incredibly traumatic and have lots of casualties, but humanity as a whole would live to see another day. Ok, now that we've survived that, what happens afterward? What does the future of humanity look like? Well, that sounds like a story for another WHAT IF.