I watched the first one of these, the second one showed up on another search, it's about a minute shorter.
What If The Largest Asteroid Hit Earth?
What If The Largest Asteroid Hit Earth?
Posted on 08/02/2020 6:26:14 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Or, theirs... of 1000 cuts...
What If The Largest Asteroid Hit Earth?
What If The Largest Asteroid Hit Earth?
Depends on the size of the comet of course, but anything a mile or more in diameter would extinguish civilization and most (over 99 percent) of humanity. The EMP would take care of most or all of the comm networks worldwide.
The only shelter would be underground, and it would have to involve prepper type stockpiling of supplies, as the surface temperature would rise unbearably, then drop unbearably.
They do point out increased precipitation (that would assume impact on water, which is 7:3 vs a land impact) but much of that would be freezing rain, snow, and ice, leaving a circular "ice age" glacial area on part of the Earth. After the cloud cover blocked all sunlight, a condition that would last for months or years, the falling temps would cause a halt to the hydrologic cycle, meaning, no rain anywhere. The early rise in atmospheric temps might melt off all high-altitude snow and ice, and until the remaining fresh waters in streams and rivers froze as the temps crashed, everything else would low out into the salty oceans.
We missed a chance to whack this asteroid in a test of our anti-satellite/bombs from orbit.
Who the hell was in charge of this fiasco?
A successful destruction of an small asteroid would send chills down the legs of the Russians, Red Chinese, No. Koreans and Iranians because it would show that we can take down their satellites, rockets, etc. if they attacked.
Come on NORAD, etc. Get with the program and blow up something. “In space, nobody cares”.
It's unclear that a comet strike would generate an EMP.
In the book, they estimate the impact of the hot fudge sundae would be equivalent to 647,000 megatons. "About three thousand Krakatoas" and "would vaporize about sixty million cubic kilometers of water" for a water strike. But the Hammer is ten times larger.
Why?
Was it too good for our satellites?
Gasp!
Is it... racist!!!! against our mechanical space brothers?
It's not unclear at all. It would. Early in the 20th century, a midair detonation over Lake Michigan knocked out at least six municipal power generators of the time, sent a surge up the Grand River channel in Grand Haven, lit the surrounding surface of the Earth for miles, and was so evident people ran out of their homes into the night, sure that the world was ending, as far inland as Battle Creek. This was a small, transient event that left no other traces.
It really just needed to go to the bathroom, and our satellites lack those facilities.
Obvious bogus excuse is bogus.
No one uses the facilities anymore.
"The urine sample was Bill's, but the handwriting was Monica's."
Well now.
That pretty much proves that someone in the feds leaked that the Standard Hotel was under observation.
Should always be the first line of any article about Near Earth Asteroids, fly-bys, and the like.
Regards,
It's been agas, but I seem to recall there was some sort of communication going on between the USSR and US, when they collaboratively snuffed out the Chicoms.
Aren't we still talking about a sci-fi novel? They weren't writing non-fiction.
I have read alot of Larry Niven. I liked Asimov too. Couldn,t get into Jerry,s stuff much.
I don't know his work, and due to his gratuitous bashing of things in his "Chaos Manor" monthly column (hmm, that was in one of the computer magazines, remember those? ;^) including one really dumb one regarding modem data formats (remember those? ;^) for his communication with his then-publisher, I wasn't inclined to read a book's worth of him until Lucifer's Hammer. Probably worth reading his collabs with Niven, but I just don't read fiction. :^)
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