eli5: why asteroids with 1km radius are called planet killers?

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They are tiny compared to the earth. I can hardly imagine they even wipe out lives within 1000km radiused area, which still is a tiny compared to the earths surface size. Asteroids are, just giant rocks right? not atomic bombs, wich gives an increasing explosion due to it’s chain reaction. So why?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

“Planet killer” is a designation for any asteroid a kilometer in diameter or larger. They do not literally destroy the planet, but the force of the impact with the ground would launch enough dust and debris into the atmosphere to affect the amount of sunlight able to reach the surface for years. This would kill off a serious percentage of life on earth; that said, “most of the things that rely on sunlight directly or indirectly killer” is probably a little wordy.

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