Predict when humans may become extinct

A mass extinction of mammals, including humans, could occur in 250 million years due to climate change .

The end of the world, the time when humans become extinct and disappear from the earth. are familiar topics in science fiction or horror movies. But will humans really become extinct or disappear in the future? The answer of scientists is "Yes".

Accordingly, scientists at the University of Bristol, England, have just published a report on the results of research on the time and scenario that causes all creatures on Earth to disappear, including humans.

Scientists at the University of Bristol used a supercomputer to analyze all the data about geology, climate change, changes in tectonic plates - the giant layers of rock that make up the surface. our planet. to predict the future of creatures on earth.

Alexander Farnsworth, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol, and his colleagues predict that mammals, including humans, may only survive another 250 million years . New research published in the journal Nature Geoscience on September 25. Specifically, the research team found that the climate will become dangerous due to three factors : The sun gets brighter, the continents change in geography and the amount of CO2 _increases .

The sun sets behind power lines during a heat wave in Los Angeles, California, September 2022. (Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP)

Previously, astronomers predicted that the Sun would become brighter and "swallow" the Earth in about 7.6 billion years. But life may not last that long. As the Sun sends more energy toward Earth, the atmosphere heats up, increasing the amount of water evaporating from oceans and continents. Water vapor is a strong greenhouse gas so it will retain as much heat as possible. Two billion years from now, Earth could be so hot that it boils the oceans.

Farnsworth's research predicts that a new supercontinent called Pangea Ultima will form along the equator after 250 million years. He invited Christopher Scotese, a now-retired geophysicist at the University of Texas, and other experts to run more detailed simulations of this distant future, monitoring the atmosphere above oceans, supercontinents, and oceans. and mountains.

The team found that Pangea Ultima would likely be much hotter than today's continents. One reason for this drastic change is the Sun. Every 110 million years, the energy released by the Sun increases by 1%.

Supercontinents make the situation worse because the land warms faster than the ocean. When the continents are compressed into one giant land mass, there will be a large area for temperatures to rise.

Pangea Ultima's topography also contributes to its climate. According to new research, if Pangea Ultima is like previous supercontinents, CO ₂ -emitting volcanoes will appear rampant. Due to the chaotic movements of molten rock deep underground, volcanoes can release large amounts of CO ₂ over thousands of years, causing temperatures to skyrocket. Meanwhile, humans now emit more than 40 billion tons of carbon from fossil fuels each year.

Most of Pangea Ultima will become too hot for mammals, including humans, to live in. It could all disappear in a mass extinction. Farnsworth thinks that mammals will lose the dominance they have enjoyed over the past 65 million years and may be replaced by cold-blooded reptiles that tolerate heat well.

So what solution will people choose so that scientists' "doomsday scenario" does not happen? Will we find ways to "migrate" to other planets like Mars, the Moon. or will we find solutions to cut greenhouse gas emissions to slow down global warming? Only time can give the answer.