What would happen if an astroid did hit earth

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SUMMARY

A 2 km diameter asteroid impact on Earth would result in catastrophic consequences, including the immediate destruction of an area comparable to California or France and the formation of a 30 km crater. If the asteroid struck the ocean, it would trigger global-scale tsunamis. The impact would also release significant dust into the atmosphere, leading to climate change, widespread crop failures, and potential destruction of the ozone layer, although it is unlikely to cause a mass extinction event. This information is corroborated by NASA's Asteroid and Comet Impact site and the U.K. Task Force on Potentially Hazardous Near Earth Objects report.

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wut would happen if an astroid did hit eart, say a like 2 km one...wwhat would the impact be like, the after effects...and the losses?
 
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NASA's Asteroid and Comet Impact site

http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/
Click on Introduction and FAQs.

This JPL site also has a lot of good material:
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news126.html
 
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A 2 km diameter asteroid would make a huge impact. If it hit land, it would immediately & completely destroy an area the size of a large state (e.g., California) or a small country (e.g., France) by the force of the impact and widespread fire. It would leave a 30 km crater.

An ocean impact would generate global-scale tsunamis.

Hitting either land or ocean would kick up enough dust into the atmosphere to change the global climate. Crops would fail worldwide. The ozone layer would likely be destroyed. Lots of plant and animal extinctions would occur, but probably not a "mass extinction".

source: Report of the Task Force on Potentially Hazardous Near Earth Objects, U.K., Sept 2000

IIRC, the one that killed the dinosaurs was 10 km (global devastation).
 

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