Target Earth

Fülszöveg

WILL MANKIND GO THE WAY OF THE DINOSAURS?
FACT; NOT SCIENCE nCTION: ^^ _
• You have a greater chance of dying as a result of an asteroid impact than in a jetliner crash."' '
• A quarter-mile-wide asteroid slamming into our planet would cause more destruction than a hundred hydrogen bombs.'
• The latest research reveals that, sooner or later, a catastrophic terrestrial impact is inevitable. f
Is it possible to shield the Earth from deadly cosmic debris?
Can high-tech radar and telescopes predict an impact?
Who are the men and women who : watch the skies for danger?
WHAT'S BEING
These and other questions are answered in this thought-provoking book by a leading astronomer and one of the founders of the Spaceguard Foundation, whose mission Is to ensure that mankind survives for generations to come.
The survival of manlind depends upon the advanced nations of the world seeking out and diverting all potential asteroid threats now and in the future. Duncan Steel's Target... Tovább

Fülszöveg

WILL MANKIND GO THE WAY OF THE DINOSAURS?
FACT; NOT SCIENCE nCTION: ^^ _
• You have a greater chance of dying as a result of an asteroid impact than in a jetliner crash."' '
• A quarter-mile-wide asteroid slamming into our planet would cause more destruction than a hundred hydrogen bombs.'
• The latest research reveals that, sooner or later, a catastrophic terrestrial impact is inevitable. f
Is it possible to shield the Earth from deadly cosmic debris?
Can high-tech radar and telescopes predict an impact?
Who are the men and women who : watch the skies for danger?
WHAT'S BEING
These and other questions are answered in this thought-provoking book by a leading astronomer and one of the founders of the Spaceguard Foundation, whose mission Is to ensure that mankind survives for generations to come.
The survival of manlind depends upon the advanced nations of the world seeking out and diverting all potential asteroid threats now and in the future. Duncan Steel's Target Earth examines the historical record of earth impacts, outlines the risk to our species, and assesses our chances of being around to welcome in the next millennium.
Consider this chilling scenario: our planet travels in an orbit swarming with rocky asteroids and comets. It's only a matter of time before one of the thousands of known near-Earth objects arrives directly in our path, with results that are too frightening to contemplate. The impact of a small asteroid only 100 yards or meters wide would be more destructive than the detonation of a hundred nuclear bombs. But this threat isn't new - scars left on the Earth's surface prove conclusively that our planet has taken frequent direct hits throughout history. One of these occurred 65 million years ago, in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Within minutes, the entire continent of North America was consumed by a raging firestorm.Trillions of tons of dust and ash blocked out the Sun's rays for years. l\lo life on earth escaped the catastrophic effects. Some species - such as the dinosaurs - disappeared forever. If a strike of this magnitude were ever to happen again, it would almost certainly spell the end of our own species. Vissza