WRITTEN QUESTION E-2847/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(10 October 2002)

Subject: Lack of research and measures to prevent cosmic collisions with the Earth and the resulting disasters

1. Is the Commission aware that, in addition to recognised natural disasters, the location but not the time and intensity of which can be predicted a long time in advance, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tropical hurricanes and flooding, there are also far more serious natural disasters which can be predicted, such as the collision of meteorites, comets and planetoids with the Earth, which occurred much more frequently in the distant past, and which may now claim the lives of hundreds of millions of people as a result of huge tidal waves, dust in the atmosphere and far-reaching climate change?

2. Can the Commission confirm that the danger lies not only in huge chunks of rock and ice hundreds of kilometres wide, the paths of which cannot be mapped accurately, but also in smaller objects with a diameter of less than one kilometre, most of which have not yet been discovered, despite the fact that they are sometimes orbiting dangerously close to the Earth and on average collide with the Earth once every 10 000 years?

3. Is there any international cooperation at government level on research and measures to limit the risks as far as possible? Is the United States the only country that is conducting research into better mapping of dangerous cosmic impacts in its area of the world and the possibility of deviating small planetoids from their paths? Is the EU adopting a wait-and-see approach?

4. Does the Commission agree with me that the individual Member States of the EU are not able to carry out sufficient research and prevention and that there is an important coordinating role to be played at European level in tackling large-scale problems of this kind, insofar as they are not already being dealt with satisfactorily at UN level?

5. What steps is the Commission taking to ensure that the territory of European countries and their inhabitants are protected as far as possible from the possibility of catastrophic, but in principle predictable, cosmic collisions?

Source:Volkskrant, 19 September 2002.

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(28 November 2002)

The Commission is aware of the potential risks posed by meteorites and asteroids in near earth orbits (NEOs), celestial bodies originating in the Oort and Kuiper clouds around the solar system, whose orbits intersect that of the earth and collision with which could have catastrophic consequences.

The risks are normally considered of extremely low probability, but could potentially be of immense consequence. Concern over the risks, as well as basic scientific interest in the origin of our solar system, has led in recent years to the establishment of a number of projects to monitor the skies in order to detect and catalogue all larger objects (larger than approximately one kilometre in diameter) that come within the inner parts of the solar system. These projects are mainly based in the United States and established with support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

In Europe, a report of September 2000 from the Near Earth Objects Task Group set up by the British government, discusses the threat from NEOs and recommends initiatives. As a follow up of the British report, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) global science forum is holding a workshop on Near Earth Objects at the European Space Agency ESRIN facility at Frascati, Italy in January 2003. This workshop is intended to review NEO issues including technical and policy related activities on national and international levels. The Commission will be reviewing the outcome of this workshop and will consider whether Community action is required.