Top Ten Things to Know About Threats from Outer Space

Abstract

Large and immanent threats that could result in large-scale death and destruction tend to dominate the news. Coming mega-disasters vividly capture the public attention because people and their loved ones are at clearly risk, and there is preciously little time to prepare for the worst.

In centuries when our population was smaller, our species could blithely pollute the air and water of the Earth and remain unscathed by the consequences. So too, for the last several decades we thought we left our space debris in orbits unlikely to collide. We are only slowly realizing the error of our ways.

–Paul S. Dempsey, Director, Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill University