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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6113910" data-attributes="member: 177">See my previous note on how to destroy a civilization economically.&nbsp; If you're willing to take your time, it isn't that expensive, and it is near-current tech.&nbsp; There are many variables, but peaking very broadly:A 100m diameter stony asteroid would hit like the Tunguska event.&nbsp; 10 to 15 megatons, roughly 1,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.A 350m to a half-kilometer diameter asteroid would hit well beyond any weapon ever created by man.&nbsp; Expect immediate casualties of 10 million or more if it hit today's Earth.&nbsp; Also expect some global climate impact.&nbsp; Given that killing only a couple thousand people in one blow in NYC did severe damage to our economy, something this size is apt to topple governments, if not worse.A 1km diameter rock does enough to, say, wipe out *all* coastlines of the ocean it hits.&nbsp; It obliterates an entire country in one shot.&nbsp; It throws up enough dust to ensure global climate change.&nbsp; This is enough to kill a civilization.A 10km rock is an extinction-level event.&nbsp; It kills much of life on the planet.Not by that much.&nbsp; We both probably have to go to the asteroid belt to get the rock.&nbsp; We're firing from the same place...Yes, but you don't have the ability to test enough to know with certainty that it is virulent and lethal enough to take down the civilization.&nbsp; And, if it doesn't, they're *pissed*.That is true.&nbsp; The bioweapon designed for them doesn't do diddly to us.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 6113910, member: 177"] See my previous note on how to destroy a civilization economically. If you're willing to take your time, it isn't that expensive, and it is near-current tech. There are many variables, but peaking very broadly: A 100m diameter stony asteroid would hit like the Tunguska event. 10 to 15 megatons, roughly 1,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. A 350m to a half-kilometer diameter asteroid would hit well beyond any weapon ever created by man. Expect immediate casualties of 10 million or more if it hit today's Earth. Also expect some global climate impact. Given that killing only a couple thousand people in one blow in NYC did severe damage to our economy, something this size is apt to topple governments, if not worse. A 1km diameter rock does enough to, say, wipe out *all* coastlines of the ocean it hits. It obliterates an entire country in one shot. It throws up enough dust to ensure global climate change. This is enough to kill a civilization. A 10km rock is an extinction-level event. It kills much of life on the planet. Not by that much. We both probably have to go to the asteroid belt to get the rock. We're firing from the same place... Yes, but you don't have the ability to test enough to know with certainty that it is virulent and lethal enough to take down the civilization. And, if it doesn't, they're *pissed*. That is true. The bioweapon designed for them doesn't do diddly to us. [/QUOTE]

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