American novelists Larry Niven once famously said the dinosaurs went extinct because they did not have a space programme. And if we do not have a space programme, Mr Niven added, “it’ll serve us right”.
The dinosaurs were wiped out an estimated 66 million years ago when a six-mile (10km) asteroid slammed into Earth near what is today’s Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
Earth appears to have been mostly spared anther such impact but asteroid hunter Jonathan “Jay” Tate believes it is simply a matter of time before a smaller but no less cataclysmic rock hits.
Mr Tate is the head of The Spaceguard Centre in Powys, Wales, the UK’s only independent pair of eyes on space.
From the observatory, the astronomer tracks so-called near-Earth objects or NEOs, which are asteroids and comets of various sizes that come close to Earth.
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The good news is, according to Mr Tate, there is no known imminent threat racing towards Earth from space.
But the bad news is Earth already faces another imminent threat – the effects of climate change and global warming.
Mr Tate said: “From the public point of view, I think there are one or two other things that we perhaps need to square away first.
“I mean we’re trying to prevent damage to the planet and our species.
“I would say that the immediate problem there is, you know, climate change.
“Let’s get that one sorted out because we’re quietly committing suicide.”
With climate change comes the increased danger of coastal flooding, more extreme weather, loss of drinking water and arable land.
Mr Tate said it is foolish for humanity to continue on this trajectory, considering we can address and fix climate change before it is too late.
Unfortunately, one danger that cannot be avoided is the certainty of a future asteroid impact.
Mr Tate said: “Wich problem are you going to sort first? One is inevitable, the other is not.
“We can sort out the one that isn’t inevitable but we need to still keep a finger on the pulse of the one that is inevitable.”
There are, of course, preventative measures but Mr Tate said some of them can create more trouble than it is worth.
The asteroid hunter said: “It’s a bit irritating that it is the one natural hazard that is both devastating completely, right up to mass extinction level.
“It’s very, very rare so the public doesn’t really pick up on things that perhaps aren’t likely to happen in their lifetimes.
“As a species, we only look two generations either side of where we are.
“If it’s going to happen to me, it’s very important. It’s going to happen to my kids, it’s really important.
“If it’s going to happen to my grandkids it’s really quite important but beyond that, don’t give a s**t.”