Walsh adds some lightness to otherwise grim visions of humankind’s future by sprinkling in humor and colorful anecdotes throughout the book, like a story about his visit to an insect food fair. But offering solutions that seem fantastical is still important, Walsh argues, “because doing so demands that we step outside our brief human time frame.” Thinking big about how we could protect the future of our species might lead to more feasible plans of action.Įnd Times isn’t all doom and gloom. Drilling nearly 10 kilometers into the belly of a supervolcano to inject cold water may not really be practical and could cost about $3.5 billion. He also discusses more theoretical solutions that scientists have thought up, like how to cool magma beneath a supervolcano to prevent an eruption. Walsh offers insight into some options that are within reach, such as carbon-capture technology to pull carbon dioxide out of the air to curb the effects of climate change ( SN: 12/22/18 & 1/5/19, p. Applied Physics Labĭescribing such plans to counter extinction threats is what makes End Times stand out. The spacecraft (illustrated here) would aim to crash into asteroid Didymos B, part a pair of asteroids, in an attempt to alter the space rock’s trajectory. NASA and the European Space Agency plan to launch the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, spacecraft in 2022 to practice deflecting an asteroid. To crash a spacecraft into an asteroid to try to alter its trajectory. NASAĪnd the European Space Agency have plans to do just that: In 2022, they intend Spend more on planetary defense and start practicing asteroid deflection. Walsh suggests that countries with space programs Incoming asteroid before it slams into Earth, such as trying to change theĪsteroid’s speed or approach. Observatory in Tucson, Ariz., where astronomers are tracking space rocks that To understand asteroids, he spends a night at Mount Lemmon In context, including what scientists are doing to combat the danger. Scientists in their labs, reviews research studies and pulls from his reportingĮxperiences as a writer and editor at Time magazine to put each threat In each chapter, Walsh investigates a different risk. These existential threats, he writes, are “the disasters that couldĮnd the human story in midsentence.” But we could eliminate or minimize those Supervolcanoes, nuclear war, human-caused climate change, disease epidemics andīioengineered pathogens are among the greatest risks facing the future of Walsh believes an asteroid hurtling toward Earth, The threat seriously, given the catastrophic consequences, science journalistīryan Walsh persuasively argues in his new book, End Times. Given year is a very small 0.000005 percent. The probability of such a big asteroid hitting Earth in any Million years ago when an asteroid is believed to have hit the Yucatán That might sound like the setup for a Hollywood disaster Thermal radiation would start fires around the world, boiling the oceans and kicking off a rapid change in climate that would probably kill off hundreds of species, humans included ( SN: 4/27/19, p. The impact would wipe out the city’s population, and the effects of the energy released - thousands of times more energy than was unleashed by the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan - would be felt globally. Imagine if an asteroid as long as Central Park struck New York City.
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