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Bill Nye the Science Guy didn't exactly ease Luke's fears about an asteroid headed toward earth. (AP Photo/file)

Bill Nye says 45-meter asteroid coming near earth reason to be concerned

BY Jamie Skorheim  on February 14, 2013 @ 12:49 pm (Updated: 5:50 pm - 5/30/13 )

Asteroids headed toward earth are a popular plotline in movies, but those not well versed in the sciences might not know how to take news there's one coming near us in real-life.

With the asteroid called 2012 DA14 set to come close to earth on Friday, KIRO Radio's Luke Burbank Show decided to call up a man known for his ability to explain science to us laymen.

While Burbank was hoping famed Science Guy Bill Nye would calm his fears, he actually says this type of thing is something to be concerned about.

"If one of these things hit Seattle, that's it," says Nye. "It's not like, oh no there'll be damage, some windows will be blown out. No, the whole place is leveled."

Nye says an asteroid the size of 2012 DA14 hit over Siberia in 1908, and even though the asteroids disintegrate at the force of the earth's atmosphere, the sheer power still causes serious damage on earth.

"This is what happened over Siberia. It blew down trees over 200 square kilometers. A Mount Saint Helens kind of explosion," says Nye. "It was just the pressure, the shock wave from this thing."

And that's the damage from a 45-meter asteroid. If they get up over 50 to 100 meters, Nye says the damage can be even more severe.

"Then you've got continent destroying, tidal waves, wipe out the world's economy sort of things."

Nye says scientists are assured this asteroid passing "very close" by earth - around 17,000 miles away - on Friday won't hit anything, but he says the fact is, another probably will, and in the not too distant future.

"It's very likely, that somebody in the next couple generations, your kids or their kids kids are going to have to deal with it."

Scientists are only aware of about 1 percent of these smaller objects that threaten the earth, says Nye.

"In other words, there's 99 percent more of these 45-meter objects, half a football field objects, that we don't know when they'll cross the earth's orbit, how fast they're going, whether they're spinning, and so if you like to worry about things, this is a great opportunity."

There is one upside. Nye says we're the first generation of humans that can actually do something about it.

"As far as anybody knows, the ancient dinosaurs did nothing about the asteroid impact. They let it happen," says Nye. "We could if we can identify these things, we could go out there with a space craft and change their speed."

"If you could identify it 10 years out or 20 years ahead of time, it would be in a sense straightforward for space-faring nations to get together and build a rocket to go out there and just whack it, just run into it, a kinetic impacter."

Luckily, we won't need to do that in this case. But this won't be the last time we'll see 2012 DA14. Nye says in 2080 it looks like the asteroid will make another close path. Hopefully by that time the kinetic impacter will be ready.

Jamie Skorheim, MyNorthwest.com Editor
Whether it's floating on Green Lake, eating shrimp tacos at Agua Verde, or taking weekend drives out to the Cascades, she loves to enjoy the Pacific Northwest lifestyle as much as humanly possible.
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Comments (52)


  • Add A Comment

  • maplefish wrote...
    Yikes!
    February 14, 2013 1:09 pm
    I'm surprised Bill Nye -the whackjob guy, didnt blame it on global warming...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Gar57 wrote...
    RIGHT!
    February 14, 2013 1:12 pm
    Cause every RWNJ knows global warming is a hoax!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Derrol_o wrote...
    Gar57
    February 14, 2013 5:41 pm
    Since global cooling back in the '70s turned out to be just a bunch of hot air, the RWNJ might be right.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hnuh wrote...
    it was precious though,
    February 14, 2013 1:13 pm
    the CNN bimbette did ask if it had anything to do with global warming.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • AKAF wrote...
    shhh...you didn't hear that
    February 17, 2013 12:30 am
    Seriously, the assault on real media will continue but this episode where a CNN bimbo asks if a meteor, from outerspace, is due to global warming. Good looking bodies at Fox, that have education credentials to back it up is looking good right now over other TV networks.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    Bill Nye is an idiot
    February 14, 2013 1:13 pm
    I take anything he has to say with a grain of salt.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Gar57
    February 14, 2013 1:24 pm
    Yes we Americans know that MAN CAUSED global warming is false. It never was real. The climate changes every so often but it is caused by nature. Man has very little if anything to do with these cycles.

    You Left Wing Nut Jobs are told by the Obama ministry of propaganda to believe this so you do. No questions asked!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Gar57 wrote...
    And there you have it folks...
    February 14, 2013 2:46 pm
    As usual, the RWNJ's have abandoned evidence and fact. Because THEY were told to by obscure "factoid" websites. Guess we all bow to our masters!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Hey Gar57
    February 14, 2013 4:33 pm
    Why don't you hand over your own money to con-men like Al Gore and let the rest of us intelligent people keep ours. You are a sheep. The only thing that causes climate change is the sun. We human beings have ZERO CONTROL over Mother Natures Weather patterns.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    There Was a Time
    February 15, 2013 5:30 pm
    When it was believed we couldn't screw up the oceans too.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Pair o'dimes wrote...
    The new citizenship test?
    February 14, 2013 3:26 pm
    So those who believe in man caused global warming live somewhere else? Oh....by Americans you mean United States citizens! But wait, those born in the U.S. that believe man has had an effect on global temperatures lose their citizenship? Now I'm really confused. I hadn't seen that in the constitution.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hpygolkyone wrote...
    Hmmmmm?............
    February 14, 2013 1:28 pm
    I haven't heard anything about this on the internet. When I hear about this on the internet, I will maybe start to believe.

    Errrr wait, this is the internet, or is it?

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • WashingtonCitizen wrote...
    Global warming is a hoax
    February 14, 2013 1:44 pm
    and Bill Nye is a left wing nut job.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Fuego wrote...
    You have to wonder...
    February 14, 2013 1:48 pm
    how accurate they are in calculating it's path. Didn't some NASA dude miscalculate some Mars mission and the ship augured into at 3,000 mph. Something like he forgot to convert the distance to km before deploying the chute...real Wylie Coyote type stuff.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • doublej wrote...
    Let's get to the real issue here
    February 14, 2013 1:59 pm
    We need more pictures of Jamie Griswold!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hpygolkyone wrote...
    Sheesh Guy..............
    February 14, 2013 3:04 pm
    Come out of your basement and get a girlfriend.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • doublej wrote...
    LOLOLOL!!!!!!!!
    February 14, 2013 6:31 pm
    HAHAHAHAHA!!!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cbrew wrote...
    Global Warming is not a hoax
    February 14, 2013 2:10 pm
    It's a proven fact, the Earth is going through a warming phase right now... nobody can really argue that, there's facts to prove it... Now you can argue the impact that man had on it if at all, as much as you want.. but the truth is, we're finding more and more evidence that the Earth has gone through major swings from hot to cold to hot to cold throughout history... there are many different causes for the changes but that's just the reality of it... Man and animal alike will have to adapt to the changing climate if we are to survive... it's happening as we speak... doesn't mean it's going to be dramatic or swift... but the facts are there... certain areas are becoming more arid, temperatures are getting more extreme etc... best thing we can do right now is try to figure out what we're in for and how to adapt to it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    Cbrew - When Dear Leader Obama says "The debate is over" over and over again and there was never a debate...
    February 14, 2013 2:27 pm
    It means that you are opening wide and taking a huge shovel helping of horse s.hit and not even questioning. There's clear evidence of a conspiracy, from email cover-ups to thermometers strategically placed next to air conditioner exhausts, maximum direct sunlight, etc. I bet you believed everything you saw in An Inconvenient Truth eh?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Right out of Alex Jones.
    February 14, 2013 2:40 pm
    Funny stuff, Shark.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    Never once listened to him Drool
    February 14, 2013 2:46 pm
    But if you say so...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • schneidballs wrote...
    Actually
    February 14, 2013 3:59 pm
    Global temps have been higher in the not so distant past (proven by science), and global temps have not been rising for a decade...hence the change of the crisis from "global warming" to "climate change". I think man has a small impact on the temps, but who says warmer climates are bad? I think that is subjective, not scientific. Science has a very poor track record of predicting the future...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Hey Cbrew
    February 14, 2013 4:39 pm
    Remember the hole in the ozone layer? Remember we were all going to fry to death by 2010??? What ever happened with that???? The climate may be changing, but the earths climate has always changed. Anyone that actually believes that we humans can control the weather is a friiggin tool. We can control pollution, but extracting more and more money from we the people in the name of global warming is a scam. And Obama loves it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Stevebo wrote...
    I'm not quite sure why the "average" person should be concerned about it.
    February 14, 2013 2:42 pm
    There is absolutely nothing any average person can do about it.

    I'm not quite sure if Mr. Nye is trying to ask us to lose sleep worrying about this issue, or?

    To me it doesn't seem very productive to raise any alarms about this as the article seems to be suggesting.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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