The Future of Planet Earth

The authoritative scientific journal Nature Geoscience published the results of many years of research by an international group of scientists about the future of planet Earth. Frankly speaking, there is little comfort.

Statistics of changes in the Earth’s geosphere and biosphere were analyzed using a supercomputer and AI. Modeling has shown that in the next 250 million years, almost all mammals on the planet are likely to become extinct as the planet warms to unsustainable levels.

The situation will be further aggravated by the fact that the convergence of the continents will lead to the formation of a new supercontinent Pangea Ultima near the equator. Here’s what Alexander Farnsworth, a senior research fellow at the University of Bristol in the UK, explains: — “Our study shows that over 250 million years, the sun will become about 2.5 percent brighter, significantly increasing the flow of energy to Earth and warming the world even further. In addition, tectonic movements of continents and the formation of a supercontinent will cause large-scale volcanic activity with the release of colossal volumes of gases into the atmosphere.

As a result, global temperatures on Earth as a whole could become on average about 10 to 15 degrees Celsius higher than today. And on the land itself, on average, it’s 25-30 degrees Celsius warmer than today.” This temperature regime will bring mammals, including humans, to the brink of extinction.

Mammals are especially threatened by rising temperatures because we have evolved over millions of years to withstand colder temperatures much better than warmer ones. According to the study, mammals have lowered their lower temperature limit for survival over time, but their upper limit has remained fairly constant, putting us all at risk of higher temperature extremes.

For humans as a species, there are several heat stress thresholds that should not be crossed at all. Temperature above 40 degrees Celsius [104°F]. and low humidity for a long period of time (more than 6 hours) are in most cases deadly (this is even taking into account complete inactivity, complete shade, no clothing and unlimited drinking water). Individual resilience can add several hours to individuals.

In addition to directly threatening humans, extreme heat will destroy human habitats, including key food sources. Only 8 to 16 percent of Pangea’s land mass will remain relatively suitable for mammal survival. “Using future technologies, we may be able to survive in some numbers by building air-conditioned ecological shelters. But we will have to build other food production facilities,” explains Alexander Farnsworth.

The authors of the study predict that the problem of heat death will become critical for the Earth’s biosphere as soon as a single supercontinent – Pangea Ultima – is formed. The supercontinent will be located along the Earth’s equator, where the weather is hottest.

And the final blow will be powerful emissions of CO2 as a result of volcanic activity due to the displacement of continents.

In a word, dear people, it’s high time for us to stop destroying each other. And together we will take care of the survival of the biosphere. We are actually talented, we can do it. If we suddenly become wiser.