Asteroid Bennu's potential impact: How it could reshape Earth
Scientists from South Korea have conducted simulations of a potential impact of asteroid Bennu on Earth in the year 2182. As reported by Science Alert, the results of the study are alarming and show how severe the consequences of such an event could be for the climate and life on our planet.
Asteroid Bennu, with a diameter of approximately 500 metres, has a small chance of colliding with Earth on 24 September 2182. Although the probability is only 0.04% (1 in 2,700), scientists decided to examine the potential effects of such an event. The previous major asteroid impact, known as Chicxulub, occurred 66 million years ago and is associated with the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Is asteroid Bennu a threat to Earth?
Lan Dai and Axel Timmermann from the National University of Pusan used the Aleph supercomputer to simulate Bennu's collision with Earth. Research showed that the impact could introduce between 100 and 400 million tonnes of dust into the stratosphere. This would cause significant disruptions in climate, atmospheric chemistry, and global photosynthesis.
Forecasts indicate a decrease in average global temperature by about 4 degrees Celsius and a reduction in rainfall by 15 percent. Furthermore, atmospheric ozone levels could drop by 32 percent, which would negatively affect terrestrial and marine plants. "The abrupt impact winter would provide unfavorable climate conditions for plants to grow, leading to an initial 20–30% reduction of photosynthesis in terrestrial and marine ecosystems," conveyed Lan Dai, quoted by Science Alert. "This would likely cause massive disruptions in global food security," he added.
However, not all effects were negative. The research showed that aquatic algae, especially marine diatoms, quickly recovered after the initial collapse, taking advantage of the extra iron contained in the asteroid dust and materials ejected from Earth during the impact. This suggests a potential food source for plankton and the possibility of mitigating a food crisis.
Although such impacts are rare, it is estimated that medium-sized asteroids collide with Earth every 100,000 to 200,000 years. "This means that our early human ancestors may have experienced some of these planet-shifting events before with potential impacts on human evolution and even our own genetic makeup," highlighted Axel Timmermann.
The study emphasises the importance of preparing for potential cosmic disasters and the need for further research in this area. As noted by Science Alert, humanity can survive such an event, but the effects on our lives and environment would be enormous. It is worth mentioning that the world's major space agencies, including NASA, are already working on planetary defence, actions aimed at protecting Earth from asteroids that may be on a collision course with our planet in the future. An example of this is the DART mission, during which NASA deliberately directed the DART spacecraft to collide with the asteroid Dimorphos, the moon of the asteroid Didymos.
