Survival Scenario to think about

Zombie Zeke

Zombie Zeke

Joined
Nov 26, 2006
Messages
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I was bored and watching the History channel yesterday and they were going over the top 10 roads to armaggeddon. The one I never took into consideration was a mile asteroid on its way to earth sometime around 2029. This is supposed to pass between the earth and our orbiting satellites (pretty close) but the thrust of the scenario is life would basically be wiped clean (other than bacteria, viruses and the occasional roach). Now with that in mind and the finite amout of time left what do you do?
 
Drink and be merry.
Plan on all money to be spent by 2029.

There are some things so catastrophic that you cannot escape.
Like paying Taxes and Dying.
 
I've read several books that use this meteor theme, and in all of them, there are some people who survive. Aside from not being at ground zero, there are many stratagies one might employ. First, consider that the masses won't be told until there is an extra moon in the sky. At that point, beginning preparations might be moot. A large number of people will do pretty much what I jested about in the beginning. Avoiding them would be a prime concern. As well as avoiding areas where ocean rises, siesmic disturbances and volcanic eruptions will be a factor. Dealing with the initial blast which, even at a great distance, would mimic what we see in a thermonuclear explosion (flash, overpressure, backpressure, pressure, then fallout including incinerations) would be next. A physical barrier like a mountain range seems prudent. Then surviving the ash and debris cloud that would circle the earth for some time precluding travel, growing of crops, and of course, hunting or fishing. It is being suggested that the great meteor strike which doomed the dinosaurs also brought with it a plague of diseases killing much of what survived the strike itself.
 
In utter chaos like that, all the gear and skills in the world might not mean squat... then again, a pocket knife or water filter might be worth killing for.

Like most people, I'm only really prepared to sustain myself and family for a week or two, tops, if I can't scrounge/hunt food. But I'd rather us be on our own in the woods, than herded into some refugee camp. I think that would be the kiss of death. Disease...overcrowding... filth... crime... no freedom... no thanks.
 
I saw that same program last night. I didn't sleep well. Typical "lost in the woods" survival planning is a moot point if a major "oops" happens like we saw last night. Gamma rays, nukes, Bio-bugs,... who the hell wants to live and suffer, and watch loved ones suffer/perish as well. If the climate change causes coastal regions to flood, then perhaps(!) it might pay to stock up on supplies (water, medicine, food, ammo), as a huge influx will be roaming the inland areas, and begging for help (can you imagine declining help to suffering innocent people? I can't...). Some won't ask for help or assistance; they will want to TAKE what is yours by force. But we can only stock up on so much food, water and shells. We will run out at some point. The entire show was a sober reminder of how precious (and fragile) life is, and that we should try to enjoy every moment to the best of our ability. Yes, aside from living through a "survivorman" type situation (plane crash, lost in woods, etc.), I don't think I would want to continue in a disease filled world where there is no hope for my children.
 
Like i've said before. If something like that were to happen, I'd be heading out into the woods and living my time the way I wanted. I'd reather die in the first, than suffer when The diseases and everything else could kill me slowly

no thanks, If im goin down, I'm doin it with a smile and doing the things I love. we've all gotta go sometime, and i'll make the best of it.
 
Depends on the size of the rock. A small rock striking earth is one thing,
but a 1 Mile across Meteor is a Monster.

I just ran a program that gives the following data:

Size= 1 mile across
Density= medium (not ice, but not iron-nickel)
Angle of Impact= 45°
Strikes Surface of: Sedimentary rock
Crater Size(diameter) = 22km or 13.6 miles across.
Effects at 1,000 km (620 miles) distance from blast site would be at least an 8.2 Richter scale Earthquake which would occur 200 seconds after impact.
The fireball would be below the horizon, so, unless it was night time, you wouldn't see the flash. Ejecta would arrive, 1000 km away, in 494 seconds (about 8 minutes). It would create it's own wind of 22.5 mph, that is at 1,000 km distance. It would create a sound blast, at the 1,000 km distance of 73 db, which is like the sound of Semi-truck going by.

The good news, it's not quite large enough to shift Earth's orbit or axial rotation. Earth would retain 99.99% of it's original mass.

The bad news, 8.2 is a pretty big shake up, ask any Californians on here if they want to expereince an 8.2 on the richter scale. And this is at 620 miles away from the impact site. The meteor that made Meteor Crater was about 600 feet across, gives you some comparison of magnitude.


Here is a description of a 1.7 km wide meteor striking NYC:
At approximately 4:27 this morning EDT Asteroid 2004 Cyrus landed on New York City. Since the discovery of its trajectory and impending impact about one year ago the governments of the US and Canada have done their best to relocate the populations of areas within 500 miles of New York City. With the force of its blast estimated at 1,000,000,000,000 tons of TNT, the shockwave flattened buildings over much of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. Firestorms are raging across the eastern United States as far as the Mississippi, creating a cloud of smoke and dust which will create life-threatening weather conditions worldwide. Predictions are for global cooling on the order of 4-8 degrees celsius (8-20 degrees Fahrenheit). Massive crop failures may lead to global starvation and hundreds of millions of additional deaths.

How can you plan for such an event?
If you knew a year in advance, then you could play Beverly Hillbillies and load up the truck. I would head south, as a 4 to 8 degree drop in global temperature is gonna be like a a mini ice age.

Even then, all surface water will be contaminated and undrinkable.
The human race will be thrust back in time, living like CaveMen to, at the very best, Middle Ages.

It's so easy, a caveman could do it :D

Pretty bleak outlook for this scenario.
 
Well, someone did mention a Bible for the BOB. Might be the only useful (For some) item in there if a big rock was about to hit close to you...
 
If you want to get a feel for what life might be like after a meator strike or something similar I suggest you read Cormac McCarthy's book The Road.
Its a fictional novel but I think it pretty much gives a good picture of life after a global catastrophy.
 
and when the world turns to shit , it shall be he who has the most survival tools and knowledge , not he who has the best computer / business skills who shall survive , IMO
 
SIRGALANT said:
and when the world turns to shit , it shall be he who has the most survival tools and knowledge , not he who has the best computer / business skills who shall survive , IMO
Click to expand...

I generally agree. (Sing with me now, "a country boy can survive" ;) )But when the S-REALLY-HTF, I reckon it's largely a matter of luck and being in the right place at the right time. Of course, you know I wouldn't even be on this forum if I wasn't into being prepared.

(*flashback*) Anyone remember the old Twilight Zone episode, where Burgess Meredith survived a nuclear war because he was in a vault or something at the time of the attack? He was a bookworm-type... as shocked as he was that the world had basically come to an end, he was pleased that he had the whole library to himself. All the time he wanted to read and learn, for its own sake, without responsibilities or interruptions. Naturally, he broke his glasses :eek: That would be about my luck...

I shudder deeply to think of my kids looking at an apocalyptic future like that... you're all right, this line of thought serves well to remind us how fragile we and our whole "world" really are.
 
There are lots of things to worry about in this world.

Astroid strikes are not one of them.

Until, that is, we hear that one is coming for us. The scientific community is too loosely controlled for the government to squash news like an impending astroid strike. I'm sure you conspiracy theorists will disagree. You can go ahead and plan for your astroid strike.
 
SkunkWerX said:
Depends on the size of the rock. A small rock striking earth is one thing,
but a 1 Mile across Meteor is a Monster.

I just ran a program that gives the following data:

Size= 1 mile across
Density= medium (not ice, but not iron-nickel)
Angle of Impact= 45°
Strikes Surface of: Sedimentary rock
Crater Size(diameter) = 22km or 13.6 miles across.
Effects at 1,000 km (620 miles) distance from blast site would be at least an 8.2 Richter scale Earthquake which would occur 200 seconds after impact.
The fireball would be below the horizon, so, unless it was night time, you wouldn't see the flash. Ejecta would arrive, 1000 km away, in 494 seconds (about 8 minutes). It would create it's own wind of 22.5 mph, that is at 1,000 km distance. It would create a sound blast, at the 1,000 km distance of 73 db, which is like the sound of Semi-truck going by.

The good news, it's not quite large enough to shift Earth's orbit or axial rotation. Earth would retain 99.99% of it's original mass.

The bad news, 8.2 is a pretty big shake up, ask any Californians on here if they want to expereince an 8.2 on the richter scale. And this is at 620 miles away from the impact site. The meteor that made Meteor Crater was about 600 feet across, gives you some comparison of magnitude.


Here is a description of a 1.7 km wide meteor striking NYC:
At approximately 4:27 this morning EDT Asteroid 2004 Cyrus landed on New York City. Since the discovery of its trajectory and impending impact about one year ago the governments of the US and Canada have done their best to relocate the populations of areas within 500 miles of New York City. With the force of its blast estimated at 1,000,000,000,000 tons of TNT, the shockwave flattened buildings over much of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. Firestorms are raging across the eastern United States as far as the Mississippi, creating a cloud of smoke and dust which will create life-threatening weather conditions worldwide. Predictions are for global cooling on the order of 4-8 degrees celsius (8-20 degrees Fahrenheit). Massive crop failures may lead to global starvation and hundreds of millions of additional deaths.

How can you plan for such an event?
If you knew a year in advance, then you could play Beverly Hillbillies and load up the truck. I would head south, as a 4 to 8 degree drop in global temperature is gonna be like a a mini ice age.

Even then, all surface water will be contaminated and undrinkable.
The human race will be thrust back in time, living like CaveMen to, at the very best, Middle Ages.

It's so easy, a caveman could do it :D

Pretty bleak outlook for this scenario.
Click to expand...


Skunk-
Those are some interesting calculations that don't put the damage toll as high as the show I was watching.

Codger- Good info definitely...I think the fishing for protein from some of your other posts may be adversely affected.;)

Rat Fink- You mean CHUDs like ugly women? In kind of a Kevin Smith way?

Gibson-That and the Will Shatner episodes were the best.
 
Interesting data Skunkwerx.

Honestly if a meteor of significant size ever strikes us , there is not much anyone can do but hope.If you managed to survive in a basement or shelter , the death , disease up top would be unmanagable , you would have to wait until the rotting and decomposing and any diseases , plagues ran thier course before going back up , then what ?
Water is going to be like on the the movie Dune. Food will be mostly non-existant aside from fungus and the like.

Lets all just hope this doesnt happen :D
 
I am looking forward to that day, I think the world needs a shake-up given the state of politics. Pack a big one into the side of the planet and kill off all the liberals and dictators.

As the old saying goes, the meek shall inherit the earth. And for the unfortunate. Well, they can just put their hands behind their heads, curl up into a ball and kiss their ass goodbye.
 
Another work of fiction that you might enjoy/find informative is Larry Niven's Lucifer's Hammer. It's about a comet strike in the Pacific Ocean that puts SOCAL where it should be - under water (play Tool song Aenima here). (I'm a CA transplant - originally from MI) The characters struggle against nature and of course the worst predator - man. Anyways it's a pretty good read for anyone interested in this subject.
 
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