Earth's future: Uninhabitable in a billion years, say NASA
Scientists from NASA and Toho University in Japan predict that Earth will become uninhabitable in about a billion years. The main causes of this anticipated change are expected to be significant alterations in Earth's atmosphere and the evolving Sun.
Researchers from NASA and Japan's Toho University forecast that Earth will no longer be able to support life in approximately a billion years. According to research published in "Nature Geoscience," Earth's current oxygen-rich atmosphere is expected to become filled with methane, which will prove devastating for life as we know it.
What changes await Earth?
A supercomputer calculated that this dramatic transformation will happen in the year 1,000,002,021. The study warns that even the most resilient organisms won't be able to live on the planet's surface then.
Christopher T. Reinhard and Kazumi Ozaki, the authors of the study, predict that the Sun will evolve into a red giant, potentially engulfing Mercury and Venus. For Earth, there are two possible scenarios: it could share the fate of its neighboring planets, or it might be pushed into a more distant orbit. Over this billion-year period, the oxygen concentration on Earth could decline to less than 10 percent of its current level.
Does humanity have a chance to survive?
The study, partially funded by NASA's Astrobiology program, suggests that the increasing temperature of the Sun may lead to solar flares that will disrupt Earth's atmosphere and magnetosphere. "The atmosphere will return to a state similar to before the Great Oxidation Event, which happened about 2.4 billion years ago," explains Christopher Reinhard. Scientists propose that humanity should prepare for these changes by developing enclosed life support systems or exploring new planets to inhabit.
Kazumi Ozaki and Christopher Reinhard utilized a supercomputer to create a model of Earth, simulating climate and biochemical processes. They caution that even the most resilient organisms won't be able to live on the planet's surface then. The study employed a complex model that combined biogeochemical and climate data to forecast changes in the atmosphere.
