Fire in the sky

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Fire in the sky

By Stephen Luntz

On the morning of November 18, the Earth will pass through the debris left over from the comet Tempel-Tuttle. At first this may seem of no political interest, but that is not entirely correct.

The event occurs in the year in which Hollywood has released two blockbusters in which meteor strikes are used to justify holding on to nuclear weapons.

Nuclear bombs could be an effective way to protect the Earth from a meteor strike. However, keeping weapons on this basis is a bit like keeping a gun in the house in case someone breaks in — the odds are that you will end up hurting those you love long before the threat arrives.

Meteor storms are totally harmless, unless you are a satellite. The meteors will burn up in the atmosphere far above our heads. Even most meteorites (objects which actually make it to the ground) are too small to do any damage unless you are right under one. A dog was once killed by a meteorite, and a woman suffered bruising when one bounced off an object and onto her, but otherwise there are no recorded cases of injury.

It is true that objects large enough to do real damage occasionally hit the Earth, but the risk is minimal compared to the threat from nuclear weapons or the greenhouse effect.

On the other hand, meteor storms are one of the most spectacular things nature has to show. In consequence of these points, the Greens are holding astronomy evenings as fundraisers in the fight against the real threat to the planet. At the moment events have been planned for locations outside Melbourne, Newcastle and Canberra, and others may still occur. Contact the local Greens office for more details.

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