Ask Ethan: Are We Due For An Extinction Event On Earth?
Are comets and asteroids periodic, and are we due?
“Biological diversity is messy. It walks, it crawls, it swims, it swoops, it buzzes. But extinction is silent, and it has no voice other than our own.”
-Paul Hawken
While a great many people argue about how and whether the human race will end, there’s no doubt as to the primary cause and catalyst of the last major extinction here on Earth: a massive, large body from outer space colliding with Earth. Some 65 million years ago, an asteroid about 5–10 kilometers in diameter struck what is now the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out roughly 30–50% of the species on our world and ending the age of the dinosaurs. Are we headed for another such event in the near future? Reader David Bertone wants to know:
I have a question for you regarding [this article I read on] how our galaxy’s disc displaces comets in the Oort cloud every 26–30 million years, causing periodic extinctions and bombardment of comets on Earth… I was wondering if we are in any danger of this happening in our lifetimes, and if the theory itself is credible?
To be honest, there’s always a danger of a mass extinction, but the key is quantifying that danger accurately.
