Hazards from the Universe :: Ecology Ecological Papers

Hazards from the Universe There are several perilous conditions that exist in our vast universe that could directly impact life as we know it on Earth. These hazards include meteors, asteroids, emission of charged solar particles, supernovas, and problems caused by man. Although the odds of these dangers directly harming Earth’s population are extremely low, if not impossible altogether, something about pending apocalypse seems to excite the human mind. The possibility of a meteorite or asteroid of significant size colliding into Earth poses as a legitimate threat to our planet. Most meteorites are miniscule and cause little harm. In fact, as many as four billion meteorites enter Earth’s atmosphere every day. However, only the larger meteors reach the earth because smaller ones burn up in the atmosphere. A large meteor impact, while rare, should still cause some concern. Barringer Crater in Arizona was formed from an iron meteor approximately 30-50 meters in diameter. Other such large meteors ar e often held accountable for the seemingly sudden extinction of dinosaurs. Based upon scientific calculations, three craters of at least 10 km are expected to form on the earth every million years. While these larger meteors are rare, any oncoming asteroid could be pushed off course by the use of rockets or explosives (Bray, 1999). Meteorites are dangerous, but the asteroids which they come from are even worse. Most asteroids are found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. However, the scientists at the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research Project recently detected an asteroid 2km wide which was originally predicted to collide with the Earth on February 1, 2019, with possible catastrophic implications. Fortunately, it is believed that this particular asteroid threat will disappear. Still, the public is aware of how threatening an asteroid could be. Hollywood has added to the apocalyptic hysteria surrounding asteroids by releasing movies like Armageddon and Deep Impact. While there is no reason to panic right now, asteroids should be feared because an impact would cause extreme and possibly fatal destruction. Violent eruptions of gas on the Sun’s surface called solar flares can send solar charged particles towards Earth and appear to be possible threats to the safety of mankind. These expulsions of charged particles come from the sun flares’ relationship with sun spots. Sun spots are cooler and darker regions of the Sun where the solar magnetic field extends off of the Sun’s surface. When the charged particles ejected from the sun reach Earth and enter its upper atmosphere, they react with present atoms and can cause major disturbances to satellites and terrestrial communications systems such as T.