66 million years ago the dinosaurs were still the rulers of the earth these creatures roamed the ancient continents for millions of years but little did they know that life as they knew it was about to come to an end from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter came a mountain-sized space rock on a direct Collision Course with Earth it hit the planet leaving behind a huge crater 115 m in diameter and 12 M deep the impact un leashed a cataclysmic force that not only led to the extinction of the dinosaurs but also nearly wiped out
all life on the planet so what would happen if the same size asteroid traveling at the same speed hit the Earth today in the same place we can get a fairly good idea by playing out that scenario with what we know of the asteroid and the capabilities that we have with modern technology in stopping such a threat and ensuring the survival of our species but would Humanity survive could we stop this Cosmic threat let's take a closer look at the asteroid that almost ended all life on the planet some 66 million years ago the chickaloo
asteroid is estimated to have been 6.5 m in diameter and entered the Earth's atmosphere at a blistering 45,000 M hour when it struck the Earth it released an enormous amount of energy equal to around 100 teratons of TNT that's the equivalent of 2 million SAR bombers all exploding at once experts have said that the asteroid hit the planet in the worst place possible just off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula had it hit somewhere else life on Earth would be very different than it is today you might be asking wouldn't we be able to detect
a huge asteroid on a collision course with Earth the unnerving truth is that astronomers have recently discovered there are potentially thousands of these asteroids including some large enough to destroy entire cities and possibly trigger a mass extinction event that are moving on unknowable trajectories around the Sun and one thing we know about asteroids is that they are sneaky and dark celestial objects that reflect very little light and they can pop out of nowhere for example consider the Solar System's first Interstellar visitor the OM mua mua asteroid the 400t long by 360 ft wide cigar SL
pancake shaped Rock was only spotted as it had already pass the Sun and only reflected 10% of the Sun's light yes it's much smaller than chicks but no one had any idea it was out there another hair raising thing is that on its way back out of the solar system after swinging around the sun on October the 14th 2017 it passed the Earth traveling around 85,00 mph and came Within 15 million miles of the Earth or just 0.16 in astronomical units cosmically speaking it was a close shave when it comes to Planet Killer asteroids hiding
behind the sun there are currently no existing telescopes on Earth that can track or see such objects and we have absolutely no reliable way to destroy or divert such a large space rock with our current technology if the worst thing happened and we did spot some mountain-sized rock moving towards us at high speed chances are not very good that we'd be able to do anything about it aside from quickly preparing for the impact so let's play out this doomsday scenario let's imagine that astronomers capture something unusual in the sky coming from the direction of the
Sun a black spot against the Sun that seems to be growing larger and larger with every passing hour they estimate the object is a giant asteroid 6 and 1/2 m in diameter and it's heading straight for us scientists determine the speed of the object is 45,000 mph and its distance is around 90 million M away which would give us around 83 days until impact governments do their best to try and keep things a secret in order to avoid mass panic and Chaos from erupting but they know it's only a matter of time until someone figures
out what's going on or an amateur astronomer finds the asteroid and tells everyone about it space programs from all countries get together and try to come up with a plan that could either destroy or redirect the asteroid the gravity tractor idea is brought up unfortunately there's not enough time to design the spacecraft plan the trajectory and calculate the necessary Maneuvers the velocity of an asteroid is primarily determined by the shape of its orbit and its distance from the Sun asteroids in the asteroid belt typically move at speeds ranging from approximately 38,2 to 5,925 mph a
redirection spacecraft like the one used in the dart mission was used to change the orbit of the moonlet dooos which orbits an near Earth asteroid called didos but this object is much bigger and moving much faster in other words imagine trying to redirect a mountain flying faster than a bullet the idea of launching nuclear weapons at the object is considered however no one knows if they will have any effect on the Rock and it could break the object into smaller pieces which could land in a lot of different places on the planet causing more destruction
meanwhile the big news is finally out and Chaos in the general public ensues the world is shaken by the unsettling news that an enormous asteroid 6 mil in diameter is hurtling towards Earth and set to collide in just 83 days the Revelation triggers a wave of panic and uncertainty across the globe in bustling cities and quiet towns alike people react with a mix of disbelief and fear authorities strive to calm the masses but their reassurances are drowned out by the rising tide of fear families race to stockpile food water and Survival equipment most people have
by now learned that the only place to hide would be deep underground High authority figures are moved to underground bunkers like the cheyen mounting complex which was designed as a Command Center in the event of a nuclear war many people tried to get underground as far as possible highways and roads are jammed with vehicles trying to get away from the Impact Zone this goes on for months and it would seem that Civilization as we know it has collapsed by this time most of the Impact Zone has been evacuated and it's now just hours from Impact
as the 6 mile wide asteroid hurtles toward Earth it looks like a giant Fireball in the sky as it enters the atmosphere at 12 and A2 m/ second the intense friction generates an enormous Air Blast heating the surface of the asteroid to extreme temperatures the Air Blast from the asteroids entry causes shock waves that Ripple outward and a deafening sonic boom boom shatters windows and flattens forests for thousands of miles around this shock wave travels through the atmosphere causing significant disturbance on the surface below the intense passage of the asteroid through the atmosphere produces ionization
of air molecules leading to electromagnetic disturbances affecting electronic equipment over a wide area and most of the satellites in Earth's orbit are completely destroyed communication across the planet goes dead in an instant all television radio and internet signals go silent as those hiding in shelters hold their breath waiting for impact in seconds the huge asteroid crashes into Earth's surface with unbelievable Force releasing energy equivalent to millions of 50 Megaton nuclear bombs huge earthquakes are caused as the Earth's crust is violently displaced and fractured by the asteroid impact these massive earthquakes are felt around the globe
and exceed 11 on the RoR scale the earthquakes trigger massive tsunamis and the asteroid causes a huge wave almost 3 m high that slams into the coastal regions near the impact site and also sends huge 1 mile high tsunamis throughout the world's oceans the impact ejects a massive plume of 25 trillion metric tons of molon material shooting up into the atmosphere with the temperature of some of this molten material being several times hotter than the surface of the Sun super heated winds moving well over 600 mph radiate outward from the impact Point 650 to 1100
M outward shredding vegetation and instantly vaporizing any living creature caught in the path the molten rock the impact ejected rains down across much of North America and incinerates everything within a 1,000 M radius igniting widespread forest fires and scorching the land landscape the atmosphere fills with dust and Ash blocking out sunlight and plunging the earth into darkness dust and sulfurous materials are ejected into the atmosphere and leads to a nuclear winter effect which leads to a rapid decrease in global temperatures the dust and sulfur along with the massive amount of water vapor from the impact
creates acid rain that covers just about everything on the planet the dust particles block out most of the sunlight reducing photosynthesis and most trees and plants that weren't incinerated by the blast die out Global wildfires increases the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels which leads to a greenhouse effect that warms up the planet and melts the remaining Polar Ice leaving much of the planet in Shallow Seas the majority of the Earth's plants and Wildlife which wasn't wiped out in the initial explosion begins to die off and a global mass extinction ensues as for the Unlucky
humans that didn't find shelter deep underground ground when the asteroid hit chances of survival would be close to zero it goes without saying that this whole scenario might be so terrifying to live through that some people would perish from Fear alone for those who have lived through the impact surviving the aftermath would be an incredible challenge because of the wh spread Global Devastation that has happened from the asteroid impact survivors would have to stay underground in their shelters for months depending on how far away they were from ground zero in the first weeks there would
likely be food and water shortages depending on what was stored Underground Supply Chains would totally be broken and anything not stored underground would have likely been destroyed any livestock not taken underground would have perished within the first few months due to the harsh environmental conditions including drastic temperature drops not to mention a severe disruption in the food chains of all animals in fact many species of plants and animals marine reptiles fish whales and other sea life would likely perish from those food chain disruptions that is if they surviv the impact and after effects alone humans
would have to stay huddled inside their underground homes for a long time as far as the outside world is concerned most of the urban areas close to the impact crater would look like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie cities close to the impact site would have faced utter devast station buildings infrastructure and Landscapes within the immediate vicinity of the impact would have been completely obliterated the shock wave would have leveled structures uprooted trees and swept away everything in its path the intense heat generated by the impact would have ignited widespread fires across the landscape combination
of debris and flammable materials would have fueled firestorms that raged through urban areas turning cities into deadly infernos entire neighborhoods cities near the coastlines would have been submerged and destroyed by the Relentless force of the tsunamis the human toll of the impact would be immense the majority of inhabitants in cities close to Ground Zero would have perished either from the initial impact the tsunamis fires or subsequent environmental changes survivors will face a harsh and inhospitable World struggling to find food water and shelter amidst the devastation after such a cataclysm event humans would have an increased
susceptibility to diseases due to weakened immune systems setting up community health centers would be key to survival being able to generate electricity would also be another important thing at this point the psychological impact of such an event would be hard to deal with many survivors coping with trauma and loss surviving all of this would be Humanity's greatest challenge but even after such a terrifying event there is some hope despite all our imperfections Humanity's resilience and potential for overcoming catastrophic events could shine through this major disaster indoor farming could be done using Hydroponics we could certainly
come up with ideas for a renewable energy source to counter the now dwindling fossil fuel reserves and after a year or so it might be possible to start rebuilding infrastructure if we were able to come together and use our heads and bring out human ingenuity and resourcefulness we might just survive and the future would certainly be a lot brighter having lived through such an experience it might be decades or even hundreds of years until we recover but the world would definitely be a much different place than it is today so now it's time for our
amazing viewers to sound off we want to hear what you think would happen could Humanity truly survive such an asteroid impact today and what would your plans be if you discovered a huge asteroid was on its way to Earth we look forward to reading your comments make sure to stay tuned here for more and thanks for watching [Music]
