Why the hidden threat is ‘dangerous’
Experts say the real peril stems not from tiny rocks that burn up harmlessly in Earth’s atmosphere, nor from the exceptionally large asteroids that scientists already track.
Instead, it’s the intermediate-sized behemoths — large enough to obliterate an entire metropolitan area.
Many of them remain largely invisible, quietly orbiting and eluding detection until it’s too late.
In 2013, the world was reminded of this danger when a house-sized asteroid exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, with the force of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of TNT.
The blast injured more than 1,600 people, broke windows, and sent shockwaves across the region — and it arrived without any prior warning.