Near-Earth asteroid Bennu has a slim chance of colliding with Earth in 2182. If it does, the impact could trigger a global winter that affects our planet for years.

Although the chances of impact are slim, Bennu is still one of the most potentially hazardous known asteroids in our solar system, and we need to be prepared for what could come. A first-of-its-kind study simulated the planet-wide damage that would be caused by Bennu’s unlikely impact,

An asteroid the size of One World Trade Center has a very small chance of crashing into Earth in the year 2182. But what would this impact mean for life on Earth?

Near-Earth asteroids have long been a concern for scientists studying planetary threats. As of September 2024, more than 35,800 such objects have been identified. Among them, nearly 5,000 range from 300 meters to 1 kilometer in diameter.

A new climate modeling study published in the journal Science Advances by researchers from the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University in South Korea presents a new scenario of how climate and life on our planet would change in response to a potential future strike of a medium-sized (~500 m) asteroid.