NASA Reveals Nine Countries at Risk of Asteroid Impact in 2032, Including One Arab Nation
NASA has disclosed the countries most likely to be impacted by the potentially devastating asteroid, named 2024 YR4, in the year 2032.
The threat posed by this asteroid increases with time, with current estimates suggesting a 1 in 43 chance
(or 2.3%) of it colliding with Earth. Preliminary assessments indicate that the asteroid could be up to 90
meters (300 feet) wide, roughly the size of New York’s Statue of Liberty or London’s Big Ben.
While it’s not yet confirmed whether this asteroid will cause a global catastrophe, an impact could result
in an explosion equivalent to 100 times the power of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the
end of World War II.
Countries at Risk
NASA has now identified a list of countries that might be in the asteroid’s path in 2032:
Venezuela
Colombia
Ecuador
India
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Ethiopia
Sudan
Nigeria
David Rankin, a scientist with NASA’s Catalina Sky Survey, has described a “risk corridor” for the
asteroid, which stretches from South America across the Pacific Ocean to South Asia, the Arabian Sea,
and into Africa.
The exact location within this corridor cannot be pinpointed as it will depend on Earth’s rotation at the
moment of impact.
Historical Context
In 1908, a similar-sized asteroid, the Tunguska event, struck Siberia, Russia, flattening approximately
2,150 square kilometers of forest. This historical event underscores the potential destructiveness of such
celestial bodies.
