Two weeks ago, astronomers at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy identified a meteor they promptly named “2024 YR4”. The Institute was quick to notify NASA and measurements of 2024 YR4 were taken. The meteor was estimated to be about as large as a football field, but they noticed something mildly concerning once they calculated its trajectory and speed: 2024 YR4 was expected to travel extremely close to Earth, making its way to us by 2032.
This news was recently made public, resulting in the internet misrepresenting the information and running with it. In the past few days, fear has spread throughout social media sites with statements of the end times, promises of complete annihilation, and worries of the end of the human race as we know it. Many worried that this would result in a disaster on par with the KT Extinction event, the meteor that killed two-thirds of all dinosaurs during the Cretaceous Period. Many on the internet believed that 2024 YR4 spelled the end of humanity as we know it. Its size terrified those who knew of it and the story began to spread that it was heading straight towards Earth. The paranoia hit an all time high in the last two days as people began to spread word that the meteor was firing directly into our planet; some said the meteor was large enough to scorch the Earth, the fervor was hitting a climax. Until the experts responded.
Multiple professionals at the Hawaii Institute for Astronomy and other space institutions took to social media to clear up confusion and prevent any further spread of misinformation. What they clarified about 2024 YR4 made everyone online feel silly for getting so up in arms: Though the meteor was coming towards Earth, there was only a 2% chance of it even making contact with our planet. They added that even if the meteor were to hit Earth, there was a much higher chance of it landing in one of our oceans than it actually hitting any land. Even if it were to strike a piece of land, it would struggle to do more than leave a crater the size of a small town.
An event such as this would not be out of the ordinary for us, as we have detonated nuclear explosions within 200 miles of cities when developing atomic bombs during the Manhattan Project. We have made impacts in our own soil far larger than anything 2024 YR4 is capable of and the Earth has survived, humanity has continued to thrive, and the areas in which the bombs were detonated are still habitable. The meteor will barely leave a dent in the crust of the Earth and will barely leave a dent in the history of the human race.
The only threat 2024 YR4 exposed to the human race was ourselves and our tendency to act before we think. A large majority of users on social media sites were convinced of our doom based on faulty information they declined to proof check or research. The speed at which misinformation about the meteor spread was staggering, making it very difficult for experts to calm the masses in a timely manner or even reach a large number of people due to the amount of users pushing the incorrect information.
We must learn to fact check information we see on the internet to avoid situations such as this. The unwarranted panic that ensued as a result of misinformation is a sign that we need to keep up with the times and do research ourselves. Unfortunately, we cannot rely on others to fact check for us or experts to correct bad info because of how far and wide lies are able to spread online.
