The asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter, is steadily losing mass every year due to gravitational forces and collisions. Jupiter's immense gravity is the primary driver of this depletion, destabilizing asteroids and flinging them out of the belt. Approximately 20% of the lost material becomes asteroids and meteoroids that can cross Earth's orbit, while 80% is ground into fine dust. This process has been ongoing for billions of years, meaning the belt was significantly more massive in the past. The declining mass of the belt correlates with geological evidence of a higher rate of asteroid impacts on early Earth and the Moon.