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Why is that your favorite idea? It sounds like the most potentially harmful to us, long-term, by far. I'm no ecologist but I have to imagine changing our orbi
by endtime 18y ago
Why is that your favorite idea? It sounds like the most potentially harmful to us, long-term, by far. I'm no ecologist but I have to imagine changing our orbit could screw up the balance of our ecosystems pretty badly.
- gojomo 18y agoIt's my favorite because it's unique, plausible, and thought-provoking -- not just 'blow up or deflect the asteroid' (as just about every other idea is). The essence of the idea was that it only takes a tiny, tiny change for the Earth to wind up far away from the collision location, though not necessarily any different in its average orbit. So climate/ecosystems wouldn't necessarily be affected. But now that you mention it, the second mention of the idea I saw -- ejecting moon mass to subtly change the Earth's orbit -- may have been in the context of intentional climate engineering rather than asteroid defense.