Asteroid/Meteor non-Physical Effect

February 15, 2013 was an exciting day for astronomers and people around the world. The closest flyby of an asteroid (that doesn't hit us) we might ever see and an unexpected drop in of a meteor in Russia. A lot has already been said on both of these events but what was most interesting to me, besides the actual footage of the meteor over Russia, were people's reactions and the idea that maybe these events will raise some scientific awareness. One reaction I heard, which was quite comical yet understandable, was that some Russians thought the meteor was an attack by us Americans. Imagining this happening over one of our cities and experiencing that blast wave would surely cause massive confusion and damage, I don't even know what my mind would think at that instant. Knowing Americans, we would surely find someone to complain to or try to sue the solar system (or think it was the Russians). But this is why we have scientists, to eliminate the confusion and move on to bigger and better things like drinking coffee in space (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk7LcugO3zg). There were also questions on the relation of the asteroid to the meteor, which there none found, but the important question here is what will we do about these events? Will we forget about them like the fads that perturb our culture/society like droplets of water in a pool? Or will this create waves and move people into a mindset that gives more importance to the problems of the future that we can begin to solve today? Probably not, but before I jump out of the pool, lets talk about the asteroid problem.
Tracking asteroids that intersect Earth's orbit is something we already do but we are limited on the size of those objects by our telescopes. We are working on dropping that limit as much as possible but meanwhile, what happens if we detect a large asteroid headed our way? Scientists have already come up with many ideas that theoretically could work but we still need to be able to test them to make sure. Of course this will cost money, but it could cost us a lot more than money if we don't. In the video below, Neil DeGrasse Tyson talks a little about the politics of deflecting asteroids.

 The problem is greater than a specific meteor hit, although that has the capacity to be our biggest. The main problem is that most of the world lives for today and not tomorrow or the day after. I think generally, as humans, we are slowly moving in that direction but hopefully it will be soon enough to avoid a giant disaster when Nature happens.