NASA upgrades chances of asteroid hitting Earth in seven years in ‘highest risk ever’

It's not looking too good for asteroid 2024 YR4 as NASA as upgraded the space rock's chances of hitting Earth for the second time.

Discovered at the tail end of last year, the rogue space rock is currently hurtling away from our planet, but is currently expected to swing back around and find itself on a collision course with Earth in the next seven years.

2024 YR4 was initially given a 1.2 percent probability of colliding with Earth, which was later upgraded to 2.3 percent just weeks after the initial warning.

And we hate to be the bearer of bad news but those odds have just gone up again.

That's right folks, asteroid 2024 YR4 now has a 3.1 percent chance of hitting Earth, which is roughly a 1-in-32 chance.

Which is sort of a good news, bad news situation I guess? Depending on whether or not you're a 'glass half full' or 'glass half empty' person.

The good news is that 2024 YR4 still has a 96.9 percent chance of not hitting Earth, which are still pretty good odds.

However the pessimists amongst us will be quick to point out that this upgrade is the second since reports began circulating about the asteroid in December 2024 and given that 2032 is still seven years away, an upgrade every couple of weeks would very quickly add up.

The asteroid is predicted to be around 40m to 100m wide (NASA/Eyes On)

There's also the fact that 2024 YR4 is reportedly now has the highest risk assessment an asteroid has ever received in history, which all sounds pretty scary.

NASA are also taking the potential threat seriously, with astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope to further study the asteroid and its risk factor.

But don't panic just yet, as there is still a 96.9 percent chance we're all going to be fine.

Where could asteroid 2024 YR4 hit?

Scientists are currently predicting that 2024 YR4 could strike an area stretching from northern South America, across the Pacific Ocean, to southern Asia, the Arabian Sea, and Africa.

This would place the following countries at risk: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.

According to The Independent, around 100 million people are believed to reside in this area, which includes major population centres such as Dhaka, Mumbai and Lagos.

Direct impact remains a highly unlikely scenario (Getty Stock Images)

What are the protocols should an asteroid threaten Earth?

Naturally, NASA has an asteroid policy to deal with intergalactic dangers. The space agency would first issue an official alert the countries at risk and then the rest of the world.

NASA also previously tested what blowing up an asteroid would look like back in 2022, with the $324 million Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), an experiment which calculated how much momentum would be needed to deflect an asteroid when hitting it head on.

China is also reportedly setting up a 'planetary defence team' to deal with the threat, but hopefully we won't be needing it.