Clase 3
The end of life on Earth?
It weighed about 10,000 tons, entered the atmosphere at a speed of 64,000km/h and exploded over a
city with a blast of 500 kilotons. But on 15 February 2013, we were lucky. The meteorite that
showered pieces of rock over Chelyabinsk, Russia, was relatively small, at only about 17 metres
wide. Although many people were injured by falling glass, the damage was nothing compared to what
had happened in Siberia nearly one hundred years ago. Another relatively small object
(approximately 50 metres in diameter) exploded in mid-air over a forest region, flattening about 80
million trees. If it had exploded over a city such as Moscow or London, millions of people would have
been killed.
By a strange coincidence, the same day that the meteorite terrified the people of Chelyabinsk,
another 50m-wide asteroid passed relatively close to Earth. Scientists were expecting that visit and
know that the asteroid will return to fly close by us in 2046, but the Russian meteorite earlier in the
day had been too small for anyone to spot.
Most scientists agree that comets and asteroids pose the biggest natural threat to human existence. It
was probably a large asteroid or comet colliding with Earth which wiped out the dinosaurs about 65
million years ago. An enormous object, 10 to 16km in diameter, struck the Yucatan region of Mexico
with the force of 100 megatons. That is the equivalent of one Hiroshima bomb for every person alive
on Earth today.
Many scientists, including the late Stephen Hawking, say that any comet or asteroid greater than
20km in diameter that hits Earth will result in the complete destruction of complex life, including all
animals and most plants. As we have seen, even a much smaller asteroid can cause great damage.
The Earth has been kept fairly safe for the last 65 million years by good fortune and the massive
gravitational field of the planet Jupiter. Our cosmic guardian, with its stable circular orbit far from the
sun, sweeps up and scatters away most of the dangerous comets and asteroids which might cross
Earth’s orbit. After the Chelyabinsk meteorite, scientists are now monitoring potential hazards even
more carefully but, as far as they know, there is no danger in the foreseeable future.
Types of space rocks
Comet – a ball of rock and ice that sends out a tail of gas and dust behind it. Asteroid – a rock a few
feet to several kms in diameter. Unlike comets, asteroids have no tail. Most are too small to cause
any damage and burn up in the atmosphere. They appear to us as ‘shooting stars’.
Meteoroid – part of an asteroid or comet.
Meteorite – what a meteoroid is called when it hits Earth.
CHOOSE THE BEST ANSWER A, B, C, or D
1. The damage caused by the Russian 5. Experts say that comets and asteroids could
meteorite ___. ___.
A) could have been much worse A) wipe out all animal life, leaving only plants
B) was huge B) kill a significant proportion of the Earth's
human population
C) was greatly reduced by the early warning
system C) put an end to all plant and animal life on
Earth
D) was much worse than the one in Siberia one
hundred years ago D) cause as much damage as the Hiroshima
bomb
2. The Siberian meteorite ___.
6. A small asteroid ___.
A) hit a forest
A) can still cause a lot of damage
B) hit a big city
B) is not a problem if it is spotted early
C) caused glass to shower over people
C) cannot cause any significant harm
D) damaged trees when it exploded
D) is actually more dangerous than a larger
one
3. On the same day as the meteorite exploded
over Chelyabinsk, ___.
7. Earth has been relatively safe thanks to ___.
A) there was another, related, asteroid event
A) pure luck
B) there was another, unrelated, asteroid event
B) luck and the protective force of another
C) scientists realised that an even bigger
planet from our solar system
asteroid could hit Earth
C) early warning systems set up by NASA
D) scientists issued a warning for 2046
D) luck and our position in relation to the sun
8. Scientists say ___.
4. The Russian meteorite ___.
A) it is impossible to monitor all the potential
A) had been predicted by scientists
hazards
B) came as a surprise
B) we are not in any danger for the moment
C) was too small to worry about
C) a meteorite is likely to hit Earth sooner or
D) will come close to Earth again in the future later
D) their early warning systems will protect us
