PORTAL RASMI
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
‘Don’t panic’ (but keep a towel handy): Earth’s options to city-killer asteroid that might hit in seven years
- Admin UKK
- Berita
PARIS, Feb 20 — There is a very small chance that an asteroid capable of taking out an entire city could strike Earth in less than eight years. But even if this asteroid is hurtling our way, humanity is now able to defend itself against such a threat, experts say.
The odds that the recently discovered asteroid will hit Earth on December 22, 2032 have now risen to 3.1 per cent, NASA said on Tuesday, the highest probability for an impact by such a large space rock in modern forecasting.
“Don’t panic,” Richard Moissl, head of the European Space Agency’s planetary defence office, told AFP.
As astronomers gather more data, the odds of a direct hit are widely expected to edge upwards before rapidly dropping down to zero.
However, even in the unlikely event that the probability does keep rising up to 100 per cent, “we are not defenceless”, Moissl emphasised.
Here are some of the ways that humanity could deflect or destroy the asteroid known as 2024 YR4.
Smash a spacecraft into it
Only one planetary defence strategy has been tried out on an actual asteroid.
In 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) deliberately smashed a spacecraft into the 160-metre-wide Dimorphos asteroid, successfully altering its orbit around a larger space rock.
An advantage of this plan is that we could hit the 2024 YR4 asteroid with multiple spacecrafts, observing how each one changed its trajectory, Bruce Betts, chief scientist for the nonprofit Planetary Society, told AFP.
The asteroid discovered in December is estimated to be 40-90 metres wide -- roughly half the size of Dimorphos.
“You have to take care not to overdo it,” Moissl warned.
If the spacecraft partially destroyed the asteroid, it could send “bits flying off” that still head towards Earth, he said.
If this kind of mishap changed the eventual impact site on Earth — for example, “from Paris to Moscow” — that would likely cause major problems back home, Betts added.
Tractor, ion beams, paint
A separate idea called a gravity tractor involves a large spacecraft flying up near the asteroid and — without touching it — using its gravitational pull to tug it away from Earth.
Another non-contact plan would put a spacecraft near the asteroid armed with thrusters that would exert a “constant stream of ions” to shove the asteroid off course, Moissl said.
Scientists have also considered spray painting one side of the asteroid white, increasing its reflectiveness so it slowly changes trajectory.
These subtler strategies would require reaching the asteroid sooner than for some more severe options.
The nuclear option
Or we could also just blow it up with a nuclear bomb.
Rather than drilling a nuclear weapon deep into an asteroid — as depicted in the 1998 sci-fi action movie “Armageddon” — this would likely involving detonating a bomb nearby.
Last year, US researchers testing out this theory on a marble-sized mock asteroid in the lab found that the x-rays from a nuclear blast would vaporise its surface and send it shooting off in the opposite direction.
Even setting aside the ethical, political and legal issues of sending nukes into space, this is considered more of a last-ditch plan for kilometres-wide asteroids like the one that killed off the dinosaurs.
And again, there is a risk that a nuclear explosion could still send unpredictable chunks hurtling towards Earth.
Lasers
Along less dangerous but similar lines, another idea is to shoot laser beams from a spacecraft to vaporise the side of an asteroid, pushing it away.
Lab experiments suggest this plan is viable, but it is not one of the “top techniques” being looked at, Betts said.
If all else fails
If necessary, deflecting this asteroid is “doable, but it depends on the speed at which we move as a planet”, Moissl said.
While experts and space agencies will make their recommendations, ultimately the decision on how to tackle the asteroid will be made by world leaders.
If all else fails, we will have a good idea of the strike zone of the asteroid — which is not a “planet killer” and at most could threaten a city, Moissl said.
This means that preparing for impact, potentially including evacuation if the area is populated, will be the last line of defence.
“Seven and a half years is a long time to prepare,” Moissl said, re-emphasising that there is a roughly 97 per cent chance the asteroid will miss Earth. — AFP
TEMERLOH, 20 Februari- Seramai 47 penduduk daripada 11 keluarga di Pahang masih ditempatkan di pusat pemindahan sementara (PPS) Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Lanchang di sini selepas kediaman mereka dinaiki air akibat limpahan Sungai Semantan awal pagi tadi.
Laporan Jawatankuasa Pengurusan Bencana Negeri Pahang menyatakan penduduk terjejas banjir itu adalah dari Kampung Insaf, Kampung Rantau Panjang, Kampung Jeragan dan Kampung Kuala Kaung.
Sementara itu, daerah Bentong pulih sepenuhnya selepas PPS Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Karak Setia ditutup pada 2.00 petang tadi.
PPS tersebut sebelum ini menempatkan 140 penduduk daripada 47 keluarga.
TEMERLOH - Empat kampung di daerah ini dilanda banjir akibat limpahan air Sungai Semantan di sini pada Khamis.
Sekretariat Jawatankuasa Pengurusan Bencana (JPBD) Temerloh melaporkan setakat jam 4 petang, seramai 47 mangsa terjejas dan dipindahkan ke pusat pemindahan sementara (PPS) Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Lanchang.
"Empat kampung yang terlibat iaitu Kampung Insaf; Kampung Rantau Panjang; Kampung Jeragan dan Kampung Kuala Kaung.
"Angkatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia (APM) Temerloh menerima laporan banjir yang berlaku di empat kampung itu kira-kira jam 1 pagi dan 11 rumah dinaiki air," kata sekretariat terbabit.
Ujarnya, PPS di sekolah itu mula dibuka pada jam 1.23 pagi bagi menempatkan 18 lelaki, 15 wanita, enam kanak-kanak lelaki dan perempuan serta masing-masing seorang bayi lelaki dan perempuan.
National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) director-general Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus said the donated items included personal care kits, hygiene kits, financial assistance and school aid.
He said the distribution was made possible through a strong collaborative network involving district and state disaster management committees, the Resident’s Office, the Royal Malaysian Air Force, GLC Demi Rakyat dan Negara, Ihsan Johor, Sukarelawan Anak Malaysia, Yayasan Foodbank Malaysia, the Department of Youth and Sports, and various volunteer organisations (NGOs).
“All aid was delivered in phases through various means, including air transport for Sabah and Sarawak. This ensured that the aid reached the victims as quickly as possible,” he said in a statement today.
The latest aid shipment from NGOs was delivered to flood-affected areas on Feb 15, comprising eight tonnes of ready-to-eat food packs and 5,000 family essentials kits weighing 47 tonnes.
In addition to providing compassionate aid of RM1,000 to household heads registered at relief centres, Khairul Shahril said NADMA has established strategic collaborations with its registered partner NGO, known as ‘Rakan NADMA’.
“Rakan NADMA is involved in managing and coordinating aid distribution. To ensure smooth delivery, NADMA coordinated efforts between Rakan NADMA and representatives from disaster management committees.
“We greatly appreciate the close cooperation between state governments, NGOs, corporate bodies, and youth volunteers in delivering post-disaster aid. Effective coordination and communication have ensured that aid reached disaster victims quickly and systematically,” he said.
At the same time, he advised the public to remain vigilant about weather warnings issued by the Malaysian Meteorological Department and to follow instructions from the authorities to prevent unwanted incidents, as the MTL season is still not over.
NRES, KPKM to hold meeting of National Committee on Haze and Dry Weather on March 5
- Admin UKK
- Berita
KUALA LUMPUR — The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) will hold a National Committee on Haze and Dry Weather meeting which will also be attended by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (KPKM) on March 5.
NRES Minister, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, said the meeting will be held following forecast by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) that the country will experience relatively hot and dry weather in several areas across the country in the next few months.
“Of course, we admit that there is no integration between weather forecasts and specific crop and harvest calendars to help farmers plan agricultural activities based on weather data now.
“However, MetMalaysia will hold discussions with KPKM for the purpose of the integration. Currently, MetMalaysia shares meteorological information and data on the Public Sector Open Data Portal (DTSA) and has developed the MET Application Programming Interface (METAPI) to facilitate data integration,” he said during a question and answer session at Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question by Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (PN-Kubang Kerian) who wanted to know the ministry’s proposal to integrate the weather forecast system with the crop and harvest calendar to help farmers plan agricultural activities based on weather data.
Nik Nazmi said MetMalaysia also provides the Agricultural Meteorological Outlook and Weather Bulletin every month on the department’s website, which is used as a guide to the weather for various agricultural agencies.
The agricultural agencies involved are the Department of Agriculture Malaysia, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), the National Water Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM) and agricultural industry entrepreneurs.
“This report provides analysis and information regarding the total rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, evaporation and solar radiation every month,” he said.
To monitor the dry and hot weather conditions in the country, he said MetMalaysia implemented various initiatives including monitoring the daily maximum temperature to determine the status of hot weather throughout the country and reporting the number of days without rain every day.
In addition, the provision of information and forecasts of areas at risk of burning through the Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS) which is updated daily, monitoring the status of El Nino and La Nina which is updated monthly and the production of a drought monitoring index which is updated monthly.
“All this information can be accessed through the official MetMalaysia website and social media. If there is a need for cloud seeding operations, we will discuss with the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) to see the suitability of the matter,” he said. — BERNAMA