What happens when asteroids hit earth?
Asteroids hit earth all the time. Most, however, are so small they never make it to the ground. Others will leave meteorites to find ont he surface. Every now and then, in the order of Centuries to Millenia, larger objects strike and cause local to regional damage. Look up the Tunguska incident in 1908 for what was thought to be an air burst asteroid or comet of around 30-50 metres in size. Now on the order of 10’s to 1000’s of Millenia, large objects hit causing regional to global devastation. These will strike the earth (even if they strike in the oceans they will vaporise the ocean and hit bedrock. Trillions of tons of material will be thrown into the atmosphere and a nuclear winter will ensure. In the short term temperatures are expected to rise due to the heat generated by the impact, ground fires and re-entry of the excavated material. The sky will be covered for more than a year – all plant life will die then soon after all animal life.
