Earth is in grave danger of being hit by a catastrophic comet shower triggered by the sun, warn scientists | Daily Mail Online

Earth is in grave danger of being hit by a catastrophic comet shower triggered by the sun, warn scientists | Daily Mail Online:



'Researchers have identified a 26 million-year cycle of meteor impacts that coincides with the timing of mass extinctions over the past 260 million years. Pictured is a graph showing how the rate of cratering has changed on Earth over time. The arrows indicate the dates of mass extinctions

Gravitational disturbance of the Oort Cloud - a shell of icy objects on the outer edge of the solar system - is believed to lead to periodic showers of comets pouring through the inner region where the Earth resides.

The last of these events is said to have occurred about 11 million years ago, roughly the same time as the Middle Miocene mass extinction.