The Earth is in danger of being attacked by hundreds of meteors

An unknown meteorite belt is on its way into the solar system. This puts the Earth at risk of hundreds of meteorite crashes around 2020.

According to NASA, there are about 400 meteorite collisions that can occur from 2017-2113, based on the observation of celestial bodies in the past 60 days.

Most meteorites that are about to collide with the Earth have a maximum diameter of about 100m - about the size of about 7 two-tier buses - and are capable of causing significant damage.

Picture 1 of The Earth is in danger of being attacked by hundreds of meteors

Last week, Professor Brian Cox warned of a bus-sized meteorite, named 2014 EC , in March, nearly approaching Earth when it was only 61,637km away.

Professor Cox said that when the 2014 EC passed the Earth a few months ago, the meteorite was at a very dangerous distance.'We can't see it but only found this meteor when it was on the way. If this meteorite flies a little closer to Earth, the bad thing happened , 'said Brian Cox.

And yet, Brian Cox predicts in 2020, there will be 'a meteorite sent to us by name.'

The 2012 meteorite DA14, discovered by astronomers at the LaSagra Observatory in Spain, is currently likely to bump into our planet. Although this capability is only below 1%, scientists think it is impossible to rule out the worst possible situation.

Paul Chodas, a planetary astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), said: 'The 2012 trajectory of DA14 is very similar to Earth's orbit, so it will often stay in location very close to us ".

According to the JPL, more than 100 ring-like structures on Earth may have been created by meteorite collisions. A research team led by Dr. David Morrison at NASA's Ames Research Center estimates that more than 2,000 meteorites are larger than 1 km in space. NASA said the collision with an asteroid of this type in densely populated or vital areas could become a disaster, but would not threaten the entire human civilization.