Fascinating video shows impact if an asteroid hit planet Earth

This is a visualisation of what it would look like if a city-destroying asteroid hit planet Earth. And scarily, the chance of an asteroid striking our planet is actually higher than scientists previously believed, according to the California-based B612 Foundation.

The non-profit group has released the video in the hopes that it will press home the idea that impacts are more common than we think.

The visualisation rests on data from a global network that listens for nuclear weapons detonations, which between 2000 and 2013 detected 26 major explosions on Earth. None of these were caused by nuclear weapons; they were all the result of asteroid strikes.

NASA already has a program in place that tracks asteroids larger than 1 kilometre. An object of this size, roughly equivalent to a small mountain, would have global consequences if it struck Earth.

Difficult words: press home (make clear), consequence (something that happens as a result of something).