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Scientists have warned that a newly discovered ‘city-destroying’ asteroid has a chance of smashing into Earth in the next decade.
The nearly 200-foot-wide space rock, labeled 2024 YR4, has a 1.2 percent probability of colliding with our planet on December 22, 2032
It has the potential to cause significant damage, especially if it lands in a densely populated area like a major city.
Asteroid 2024 YR4, discovered last year, is about the same size as the Tunguska asteroid that caused the most explosive impact in recorded history when it shot through Earth’s atmosphere in 1908, reportedly killing three people.
It exploded in the air over Siberia in what’s known as an ‘air burst,’ and a blast equivalent to detonating 50 million tons of TNT flattened an estimated 80 million trees over 830 square miles of forest.
On December 22, 2032, the asteroid will come within approximately 66,000 miles of our planet.
But orbital uncertainties indicate it has a very slight chance of directly hitting Earth.
After it was discovered, asteroid 2024 YR4 immediately shot to the top of NASA’s automated Sentry risk list, which ranks known Near Earth Objects (NEOs) on how likely they are to collide with our planet. Daily Mail
