Comets And Their Impact On Earth Essay

, Research Paper

Robert Pike

English 111, Professor Ryan Barbour

10 December 1997

Meteors and Comets and Their Impact on Our Planet

How much do we know about our planet and its natural history? Why did the great dinosaurs disappear? All of the answers are now starting to come to light. Scientist have speculated that Earth?s history and evolution may have been more violent than we first thought. If you can, image a large chunk of rock hurtling through space heading toward Earth on a collision course and watching it come through the atmosphere. You are one step closer to understanding the extinction of the dinosaurs. In outer space, there are billions of meteors and comets, with the majority of them existing in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. These chunks of rock are hurtling their way through space, and about every ten-billion years, one very large one hits the Earth. Such a doomsday asteroid could severely disrupt life on Earth, not only for humanity, but for the other species of plants, fish, birds, and animals.

Since we have known that dinosaurs once roamed this planet, we have asked where they went and why they suddenly passed away. Scientists have come up with the hypothesis that dinosaurs were killed by the repercussions of a massive meteor?s hitting the planet. Jon Erickson supports this idea in his book Target Earth when he adds, “The gigantic collision was so devastating that it killed three-quarters of all known species, including the dinosaurs” (148). They found that this great amount of matter hitting the earth at three times the speed of sound produced a plum cloud that enshrouded the planet with dust. This dust didn?t allow any sunlight to reach the surface of Earth. As a result, the plants had no way to grow since they were not able to photosynthesize. This produced a reaction that dismantled the food chain of the planet. The herbivores, without any plants to eat, died off. Then the carnivores died without the meat of the herbivores to support them. The only animals that were left were small and much like the mouse. Mammals then inherited the Earth from the dinosaurs. One can say that the meek inherited the Earth from the strong through this process of destruction.

When a meteor the size of a small town hits the planet, the Earth goes into a state of chaotic destruction. The Earth begins to ring like a bell and 80 percent of the population becomes permanently hard of hearing. Jon Erickson depicts what would happen when a large asteroid collides with earth, “It sets the planet ringing like a giant bell. The Jarring could induce strong earthquakes and powerful volcanic eruptions. The impact could cause the Earth?s magnetic field to flip over. A slight shift in the Earth?s axis can throw us into a ice age” (71). Whatever was at the epicenter of impact would be destroyed without a trace left of its prior existence. Then a shock wave would travel across the Earth, and everyone would hear and feel that impact of the meteor. Next, rocks that had been thrown into the air would begin to land as far as 6,000 miles away from the epicenter. The rocks would be on fire due to the heat of the explosion and their reentry into the atmosphere. Buildings would be destroyed by the projectiles that landed on them. Fires would consume what the falling debris did not destroy. People would panic, and order as we know it would be put to an end. Volcanoes would begin to erupt due to the stress put on the continental plates, and sulfur would spill into the air. If a comet or a meteor landed in the ocean, upon impact, “The comet would produce a conical shaped curtain of water, splashing billions of tons of seawater high into the atmosphere” (Erickson 77). The atmosphere would be so full of water that clouds would form over the entire planet. The clouds would be similar to thunderstorm clouds. The thick clouds would throw Earth into darkness. For those who survived the beginning of the madness, there would be something similar to a nuclear winter to look forward to. Needless to say, not many people would survive the famine and the winter to follow. These events have the potential to shift nature?s course and even to destroy the entire planet?s ability to possess life. The hypothesis that the scientists came up with was that small mammals survived the apocalypse and become the heirs of the world.

What are the possibilities of a celestial body hitting our planet? William R. Newcott tries to make clearer the chances of Earth?s being hit by a celestial body in National Geographic?s article, “The Age of Comets” when he states,

Imagine yourself atop the Empire State Building with the world?s most powerful bowling-ball cannon, capable of reaching the general vicinity of Washington, D.C. You are randomly firing bowling balls as a lone Volkswagen bug circles the Washington Beltway. It is not likely that you will hit that Beetle anytime soon, but one of these days, one of these millennia, you will inevitably crush one vintage compact car (105-106).

We live in a cosmic shooting gallery, yet during our lifetime, there?s roughly a 1-in-10,000 chance that Earth will be hit by something big enough to wipe out crops and humankind worldwide. Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan remark in their book Comet that, “We may never have to face such calamities, but it would be suicidally foolish to ignore the possibilities that a comet ma