Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Gambling on a Natural Disaster

Betting on the gee-gees

Ever wondered about the odds of a natural global disaster?
Well, The Guardian has put together a nice summary of the chances of a 'global geophysical event' - known more simply as the 'gee-gees'

There's a 0.7% chance of a mega-tsunami - caused by asteroids or comets crashing into the sea or islands and forces enormous waves

Super-Eruptions are just as rare. There's a 0.14% chance of one happening in your lifetime - the last one happened a mere 73,500 years ago in Sumatra. The ash would blacken the sky and cause a 'volcanic winter' that could last for 5 years

Comets and Asteroid Strikes are currently becoming less of a threat as new technology and better telescopes can calculate any potential collision course with Earth. These cataclysmic events are thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs and in 1994 a comet collided with Jupiter - a similar impact on Earth would have wiped us all out

I'm not too sure its worth a flutter on the next global disaster though. It would be quote a challenge to go and collect your winnings the next day

posted by jo @ 1:45 PM   0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home