A study forecasts Earth's inevitable extinction scenario
People think the fate of planet Earth rests in their hands. However, a study from British scientists published in Nature suggests this couldn't be further from the truth. The research indicates that humanity is on the brink of extinction within roughly 250 million years, and this would be the case even if the use of fossil fuels ceased immediately.
Dr Alexander Farnsworth of the University of Bristol led the study. The team believes that Earth's continents will amalgamate into a single, extremely warm, dry, and mostly uninhabitable landmass.
"The outlook in the distant future appears very bleak. Carbon dioxide levels could be double current levels. Humans – along with many other species – would expire due to their inability to shed this heat through sweat, cooling their bodies," Dr. Farnsworth explained.
Life on Earth would have to endure temperatures between 40°C and 70°C at that point, underlining the severe conditions predicted for our planet.
Landscape of Doom
The familiar arrangement of lands and oceans will be gone. The continents are expected to consolidate into one supercontinent called "Pangea Ultima," shaped somewhat like a doughnut with an inland sea at its centre—the remnants of the once-great Atlantic Ocean.
Pangea Ultima is predicted to be encircled by a massive ocean created by merging the remaining waters into what was once the Pacific. This is merely one scenario of how Earth’s supercontinent could appear after tectonic plate movements.
"Of course, this assumes that humans will stop burning fossil fuels, otherwise we will see those numbers much, much sooner," stated study co-author Professor Benjamin Mills from the University of Leeds.
Is There Hope?
Yet, the scientists propose a glimmer of hope against their catastrophic vision. Humanity's salvation might lie in establishing civilizations on other planets within different solar systems – a notion that remains in science fiction for now.
"[Survival] will all depend on whether we can escape this planet, and if not, do we have the capacity to use geoengineering solutions to manage the climate," acknowledged Dr Farnsworth.
