Prepare for Valentine’s Day to ‘rock’

Valentine’s Day is the day for couples and secret admirers to make their valentines feel special.

It is also the day for single people, like me, to remember that they are single.  
With this day of love rapidly approaching, our valentines are going to the grocery store to stock up on chocolate, candles and condoms.

But, will they also be considering all the necessities needed to survive an apocalyptic event?
On Feb. 15, a 150 foot wide “small” asteroid will be speeding past Earth.  The asteroid named “2012 DA14” will be flying closer to the Earth than our ring of satellites.  
2012 DA14 will be the closest flying asteroid known about in advance.

The asteroid was discovered last February and has continually been zipping past the sun every 368 days.  
It has been calculated to be a mere 17,200 miles from our planet.  
Europe, Asia and Australia have the best chance of seeing this phenomenon and will only need a small pair of binoculars or a telescope.

NASA has assured everyone that this asteroid will not collide with Earth this year, but this does not mean that there isn’t potential for asteroid collisions in the future.

An article published by Space.com stated “Asteroids of 2012 DA14’s size probably make such close flybys once every 40 years and actually hit Earth every 1,200 years or so.”

An asteroid of this size could easily destroy a large metropolitan area (or several) and has been said to be twice the energy force of the atom bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.  
We can refer back to the large crater in Arizona to see the type of impact expected of a “small” asteroid.

The key to surviving an asteroid collision with Earth is preparation.  Most asteroid survival guides believe that to be properly prepared would require almost an entire year of preparations to build shelters and stock up on necessities.  
Some survivalist groups urge people to take extra cautionary actions before an asteroid’s near Earth passing.

The quote that’s most often used is, “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.”

The probability of an asteroid killing off all life on Earth is very small, but small asteroids are passing by earth often.

Scientists admit that other relatively large asteroids have passed Earth without being spotted.

Each of these asteroids has the possibility of colliding with earth at some point in time.

Instead of turning a blind eye to these threats, people should be thinking of an emergency plan.

When you watch the weather channel and hear that there is a 60 percent chance of rain, don’t you immediately weigh your decisions for the day based on that information?
You wonder if you should bring a jacket maybe an umbrella, and you decide what you will do if it rains and you decided to not bring anything.

We constantly question the meteorologist prediction on weather, when the consequences are rather trivial.

However, when media reports that there’s a 150-foot asteroid flying extremely close to Earth, we are told not to worry. We believe them without question.

So, on Valentines Day, if you don’t get the perfect flowers or any at all; do not forget that it could have been far worse. Thankfully, we have a 99.9% chance of making it to Feb. 16.


Lakin Cathy is a freshman business administration major of Heber Springs