information:extraction, structural:summarization
Sociological and cultural effects

An impact event is commonly seen as a scenario that would bring about the end of civilization. In 2000, Discover magazine published a list of 20 possible sudden doomsday scenarios with an impact event listed as the most likely to occur.

A joint Pew Research Center / Smithsonian survey from April 21 to 26, 2010 found that 31 percent of Americans believed that an asteroid will collide with Earth by 2050. A majority (61 percent) disagreed.