If you haven't noticed, the media and politicians are engaged in a pandemic of hysteria over the Covid-19 virus. It's pretty tiresome, and despite the drastic actions, it is in no way the worst pandemic in history, with over a 99% survival rate and with effective treatments readily available. Covid-19 is not a significant threat to humanity.
There have been some horrendous pandemics throughout history. In the Roman Empire, Smallpox was a scourge that also reoccurred in the ensuing centuries. Smallpox had a death rate of 30%. The Black Death of the 1300s killed one-third of the European population, and of course, there was the Spanish Flu at the end of World War One. These occurred without any modern treatments that we have today.
Getting away from Covid, the other area of hyperbolic predictions concerns global warming or climate change. Unfortunately, politicians are making decisions on what amounts to a theory; it is not fact. The earth has had different times where the climate has been both colder and warmer. Even that "dreaded" CO2 that we hear so much about has been higher at times than it is today. None of the predictions has come true. The earth is still here and will be for some time.
So what could go wrong? A couple of situations could befall us and threaten life on earth, and they are both astronomical.
We think we have so much power and influence that we can control our ultimate destiny. There was recent hoopla about Jeff Bezo's 10 minutes, a 65-mile jaunt into space. Meanwhile, Alan Shepherd's suborbital flight went to an altitude of 116 miles back in 1961. Russian Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth in the same year at an altitude of 202 miles. Of course, Apollo 11 went to the moon and back in 1969. We haven't progressed all that much. Beyond the earth, we have limited influence.
Something more ominous may appear soon. In 2027, an asteroid called PDC 2017 is due to come close to the earth. There is a 96% probability of this giant rock striking our planet. PDC 2017 is a small asteroid, about 200 meters in diameter. However, wherever it hits the atmosphere, it would create a powerful pressure wave. If it lands in the ocean, a giant tsunami is inevitable. If it strikes a city—the devastation would be horrendous, yet humanity would still survive.
Let's remember that the dinosaurs died because a seven-mile wide asteroid struck the earth, causing a plume of dust to circle the globe. Future impacts are inevitable, but the question is when and what size? Asteroid impacts are not a theory but based on reality.
The other astronomical event that we have also had experience with are solar flares. Large solar flares can cause geomagnetic storms on our planet. While these create beautiful displays of the aurora borealis in our atmosphere, their effects can be deadly. In 1859, a massive solar flare disrupted telegraph operations, even causing electrical shocks. Of course, today, everything depends on electrical technology: computers, electric grids, water and sewage treatment, fuel distribution, phone technology, GPS and many more.
Depending on when and where a solar flare impacts us in the future––and it will––it could be devastating to humanity. At the closest point in its orbit (perihelion), the earth is about 7 million miles nearer to the sun. Can you imagine the loss of electricity and computer usage when the world is at maximum vulnerability? It could devastate our food delivery and storage systems. The implications of such an event would be somewhat horrendous to contemplate.
Hopefully, someone, somewhere, is actively working to secure basic digital infrastructure upon which so much is dependent today. So let's put things in perspective; climate change and Covid-19 are blips compared to the potential of astronomical events.
You've heard the term, "Don't sweat the small stuff". The "big stuff" that could be very catastrophic we can't prevent. So get on and live life, be happy and don't worry.
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