It doesn't discount asteroids striking the Earth and causing massive damage. It's happened before and it'll happen again. Understanding the risks and potential damage is very important, because it helps determine our priorities for searching out potentially destructive rocks. Estimates for the number of large NEOs and their potential chance of striking the Earth has varied over the years.
It sounds like people had been overestimating the risks in the past.
So, less chance of people dying, that's a good thing.
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Fraser Cain
Publisher
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