The asteroid report reads: “Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are asteroids and comets that come close to or pass across Earth’s orbit around the Sun. “They range in size from small ‘meteoroids’

only a few meters across, to much larger bodies several kilometres wide. “When NEO orbits bring them into Earth’s atmosphere, smaller objects harmlessly fragment and disintegrate, while

larger objects can cause local damage or even global devastation.” The report added: “Objects close to and larger than one kilometre can cause damage on a global scale.” Objects this big can

trigger devastating tsunamis, earthquakes and “secondary effects” that would extend far beyond the impact area.