The chances of our planet colliding with this newly discovered object in 2032 are very remote, but they have recently almost doubled. From devastating climate change to ongoing wars to the dismantling of the globe’s largest aid agency,

The risk of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth seems to be creeping up as astronomers gather more data, but does that mean we should be scrambling to prepare for an impact in 2032?

The risk of an asteroid hitting Earth has doubled in a week but there are no plans yet to build a spacecraft to deflect the football pitch-sized rock.

The chances that a space rock could hit Earth in less than a decade just went up slightly, according to NASA scientists. The asteroid 2024 YR4, which is expected to pass Earth in 2032, was recently calculated to have a 1-out-of-43 chance of striking our planet. By contrast, last week 2024 YR4 had only a 1-out-of-83 chance of striking our planet.

YR4 has just above a 1% chance of crashing into Earth in 2032, which is why astronomers and space agencies are paying attention to it.

A newly discovered asteroid named 2024 YR4 now has a 2.2% chance of affecting Earth in 2032 after recent observations.

By comparison, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs and 70% of all other animal species on Earth around 65 million years ago was roughly 6 to 9 miles wide. Other notable impact events include one in 1908,