When will our planet’s suitability for life end? – 100 ways to annihilate life.
Have you ever wondered what ways life on Earth might end? How
much time do we have for all living organisms to disappear from the surface of
our planet for purely natural reasons, not related to the activities of
humanity? Recently I’ve come across some interesting articles and research
concerning the end of life on Earth. While they literally all go back millions
of years ahead, they are incredibly fascinating. Let’s have a look together and
choose the best apocalypse!
https://i.insider.com/56fbc4ebdd089570618b4a40?width=700&format=jpeg&auto=webp
Starting with something simple and well known to everyone – a comet impact or an asteroid threat. As it turns out, for the complete annihilation of life on Earth, an object with a diameter of 50 km would be enough to boil Earth's oceans by force and energy of the impact and cause the rocks to evaporate in the process. An example of such a celestial body is the Hable-Bopp’s comet, which could be observed with the naked eye from May 1996 to December 1997. It needs about 2,450 years for one orbital cycle. So far, it doesn’t threaten our planet, although, there are speculations that such an event could take place over the next 100 million years.
https://cosmicpursuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Hale-Bopp-March-27-1997-scaled.jpg
Going further – a volcanic apocalypse. Within 100,000
years from today, a supervolcanic eruption is likely to occur on Earth, as a
result of which 500 km³ of magma will be released to the surface. Moreover, in
a minimum of 1 million years, there will be an even larger supervolcanic
eruption, which will release as much as 3,000 km³ of magma. This will be
comparable to the eruption of the supervolcano Toba 75,000 years ago which is known to wipe out almost all
primitive humanity from the face of the Earth at that time.
The Sun vol. 1 – in a billion years, the Sun's brightness will increase by
10% compared to today, bringing the average temperature of the Earth's surface
to about 50°C – oceans will evaporate as a result. Within 3 billion years, the
average surface temperature of the Earth will reach about 150°C. Life will die
out completely.
Death from within – solidification of the Earth’s outer
core. Expected to occur in the next 3-4 billion years, assuming that the
inner core continues to expand at a rate of 1 mm per year. Without a liquid
outer core, the Earth's magnetic field will collapse and the planet will lose
its atmosphere, leading to the extinction of all living species.
Finally, a „positive” touch (The Sun vol. 2) – in almost 8 billion years, the Sun will reach the top of the „Red Giant's Branch”, having a radius 256 times larger than the present one. As it grows, it can consume Mercury, Venus, and Earth. As a result, the surface temperature of Titan (one of Saturn's moons) would be able to rise to a level where life can survive.
https://wccftech.com/analysis-indicates-next-5-billion-years-sun-will-expand-destroy-life-earth/
As you can see, our planet and most of life on it still have
a lot of time to enjoy themselves. Leaving aside all scenarios like
overpopulation, nuclear war, pandemic, and so on... which could happen much
earlier than „natural” ones, we can sleep peacefully. There are many other
catastrophic visions still out there, but this one article won’t be enough to
contain them all. If you’re curious, I encourage you to browse the links listed
below and add something from yourself by doing your own research.
Thank you for reading. I hope you found the article
interesting, be sure to let me know in the comments and share your thoughts!
Guiding questions:
1. Which scenario presented in the article did you find the
most interesting or threatning and why?
2. Do you know any other „natural” ends of the world and how
soon might they happen?
3. What do you think, what scenario of the end of our
civilization will be the fastest or the most brutal, taking into account only those that are
influenced by humanity itself? Why?
Sources:
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-can-kill-planet-earth-2016-3?IR=T
https://physics.aps.org/articles/v7/124
https://astronomy.com/news/2021/05/how-will-life-on-earth-end
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150323-how-long-will-life-on-earth-last
I’m not keen on such scenarios and theories and that’s why I also don’t believe in them. As a result, none of them can threaten me. In my opinion, human beings are too weak and too stupid to be able to foresee any of the world's ends. Each year there are many plans for the world end dates and it’s so funny that there are people that believe in it. We can’t think about any world end as it’s beyond our horizon and our imagination. We can’t even imagine what’s waiting for us and how will it look like. I think that each of us should try to live our lives as if the world's end is tomorrow. Simply live your life, be happy and appreciate all things that surround you. Don’t wait for the planned end of the world because you’ll lose your time and believe me or not – you will never be ready for it.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely understand, this topic can be called very abstract, after all these theories are so far into the future that it's really hard to believe. Nevertheless, I wouldn't consider them impossible to fulfill, because they are all backed by genuine research that is verifiable with various advanced devices. Scientists have been studying these types of scenarios for years, mostly referring to the ancient past of our planet and similar situations that once happened.
DeleteVolcanic apocalypse I found the most interesting, because this would be very quick and hard to predict so no one would expect that :D Anyway I read a lot about Yellow Stone park being one huge volcano that is going to erupt one day destroying whole Earth. Maybe its not an natural end but I would not be surprised if we will face an Aliens invasion :D No jokes there, I heard someday such quote “Universe is that huge we cannot even imagine that so believing in that Earth is the only planet where life is would be very selfish”. I think word is not going to end that fast, at least this wont be caused by humans, wars ect are not that profitable nowadays so until some pandemic will kill of us I think we can feel safe.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reply. A very correct remark about the volcano in Yellow Stone, in fact I also heard about this theory, absolutely correct. Alien invasion? Well, why not. As you have noticed, the universe is infinite, so this end of the world is as most likely as any other. Or maybe aliens will be friendly to us? That would be interesting.
DeleteA very interesting article! All of the scenarios you have presented sound amazing and interesting. When talking about the end of the world, a lot of people think that it will come from outside of our planet in the form of a comet or asteroid, and forget that we are sitting on a ticking bomb ourselves. Volcanic eruption is one of the less popular theories, but it is possible to some extent. Every year, some volcanoes become dormant and others are reactivating. A volcanic eruption would have effects not only related to magma but also related to an effect similar to nuclear winter. Huge amounts of dust thrown into the atmosphere could block any access of the sun's rays to the earth's surface, which would entail further dangers, such as, for example, very low temperatures.
ReplyDeleteAs for other natural ways in which the earth can be destroyed, I know only those mentioned in your article, apart from the solidification of the Earth's outer core, which I read for the first time in my life.
In my opinion, one of the most brutal ends of the world that humanity can provide for itself is the end caused by nuclear war. In some ways, you could call it a volcanic eruption on steroids. Apart from possible earthquakes, nuclear winters, and the explosion itself, probably the most terrible killer would be radiation. To this day, people suffer from radiation sickness related to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This invisible killer is capable of haunting generations, and it takes a long time to get rid of it from the environment. People who would survive the beginning of the conflict would most likely have to face a very long and hard struggle to rebuild what was lost, although in my opinion, in this case the chance for reconstruction would be very small and the only thing that would await the rest of people would be a painful death.
Thank you for the huuuge reply! Love your answer, I didn't expect something like this. I don't even know where to start, I can see that you know a lot about the destruction of the world, I like it. The thing about volcanic destruction is that the mere flooding of the surface with magma is actually just one of the factors that will negatively affect our planet, there are many more side effects - for example, the ones you mentioned. On the subject of radiation, I have to agree with you. You described it perfectly, so I don't know what to add here. Even if some part of humanity survived the nuclear war, the effects of such an event would stay with our planet for a very long time. Perhaps we could experience "Fallout" in real life.
DeleteAll of these scenarios are interesting to me. I do not know which one is the most threatening but as far as I see this topic, it is interesting and fun to read. You talk about billions of years for these to happen. By the way, I know people who do not know the meaning of a billion. So, I think there is nothing to be sacred of, just relax and watch earth's end on Netflix :).
ReplyDeleteI do not know any natural ends of the world, beside those mentioned by You.
There are possibly hundreds of ways to end our civilization but I think it can end with something like a world war. The war could not end our civilization itself, but live Mikolaj said, radiation could.
Thank you for replying. I also think that nuclear war is one of the most likely scenarios in terms of human interference. I wish we could only watch the end of the world on Netflix ;)
DeleteJoanna Apon
DeleteAll scenarios where interesting to read,but for me was that one with growing sun. It would be very interesting to study case (probably from other planet or on a spaceship).
ReplyDeleteSadly,I don't know any other scenarios of the end of the world but this article will be a good start to check it in free time.
Fastest and most brutal end of civilization probably would be nuclear war, but it really unlikely to happen because after last time nuclear missiles was used they show us how devastating effects it causes and I think that even some countries are flexing and bragging about their arsenal, they will not use it.
Most possible at least for me scenario of extinction of humankind will be epidemy of some kind of deadly virus. Covid situation is showing us how people are irresponsible and selfish by for example not using masks (for example at the start of pandemy there were a lot of people that was saying that an order to put on masks violates their rights, or people that are refusing to take a vaccine without any reason).
Thank you for the reply. Rising Sun is very scary, so I quite "like" this scenario as well. The best part is that there is no way we can stop this process, and sooner or later we will really experience higher and higher temperatures just as the Sun expands. I agree with your view on the epidemic and the war, very popular thinking.
Delete1. One of the most diverse scenarios is the impact of a comet or asteroid that has already hit the Earth in the past and caused huge changes in the ecosystem of the entire planet completely changing the organisms living on it.
ReplyDelete2. I honestly haven't come across any other end of the world scenarios. The ones you mentioned are ones that I have read articles about and ones that have been presented in various science documentaries on television.
3. One of the most rapid and brutal end-of-the-world scenarios we can influence will be one where the Earth's ozone layer largely disappears, causing the Earth's temperature to rise significantly, drying out the oceans and completely destroying life on Earth.
Thank you for replying. I can see that I'm dealing with an expert on the subject. Repetition of the scenario of a comet hitting Earth is very real, the history of the planet can come full circle. Recently I came across information that the higher authorities want to consider "shooting down" such a threat with nuclear weapons in order to destroy it still far from our planet, wouldn't that be interesting? I agree 100% with the disappearance of the ozone layer of the atmosphere, it can be achieved much faster than all the other ends of the world that I've mentioned, especially with the great help of humanity of course.
Delete1. As a big fan of movies, I have to admit that the asteroid strike scenario is the most interesting for me. I remember as a child I often watched documentaries about possible scenarios of hitting the ground by other celestial bodies. Additionally, we know that this has already happened many times in the past.
ReplyDelete2. I once heard about the possibility of a black hole engulfing the solar system, but for me it is such an abstract thought that it is difficult for me to say anything more about it.
3. I believe that the fastest and most probable scenario is a volcanic eruption that will paralyze the operation of all mankind. . I heard somewhere that Yellowstone's largest supervolcano is quite close to erupting. Of course, it is about hundreds of years.
Thank you for the reply. The topic of the asteroid threat is very well known to everyone, as you mentioned you can see it in many movies, but also the logic itself, the first thing that comes to mind about the threat to the planet is a possible impact of a celestial body. The black hole topic sounds very interesting, actually recently I even watched a video about the appearance of a 1 mm black hole on the Earth's surface. Of course, the result was the absorption of the entire planet and the complete annihilation of everything we know. Here is the link (it's a very nicely done video, I highly recommend!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G_Jqz2ctlA
DeleteA volcanic apocalypse sounds terrifying to me, so I would claim this scenario as the most threatening. I cannot even imagine the surface of our planet being slowly covered with this extremely scorching lava which melts everything on its’ way. Very cruel way to annihilate life.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I was not as much interested in this topic area until now and my knowledge is little, so I have to admit I don’t know any other possible natural ends of the world. However, this topic seems to be interesting to me and I am definitely going to check some stuff online.
I think the biggest threat for us right now is overpopulation and hence overconsumption. A lot of data says that with the consumption we have right now, we will run out of some food within next 30 years or so. This overconsumption is also a cause of global deforestation and hance the cause of the rise of temperatures all around the globe. Maybe it does not sound very terrifying, but imagine in 50 years having extreme temperatures, oceans covering most of the surface of our planet and simultaneously little animal species and no fish in a sea. Very sad.
Thank you for replying! I'm very glad that I got you interested in my article :) I'm not an expert myself, to be honest I'm interested in astronomy only as a hobby (when I have nothing to do), I like to read about various interesting phenomena in space or unimaginable planets in the universe. On the subject of supereruption, I can add that while browsing an article on the supervolcano Toba, I came across a similar case that took place many millions of years earlier, with a much greater impact. Unfortunately, I don't remember what the event was, but the most interesting part of that article was about the place of the supereruption. Apparently, it happened in a place where there were huge deposits of salt underneath the ground. In contact with magma, salt produced huge amounts of toxic vapors that escaped into the atmosphere, destroying it and therefore annihilating all living species.
DeleteI try not to worry about the apocalypse as there is no way of me having possibility of preventing it, so why worry ;) If I were to choose the most threatening scenario from the ones depicted, I guess I could go for the sun version 1, however as I said, I do not worry too much. I guess when it comes to which apocalypse would take prime in the race to human extinction, I could probably go for overpopulation. As it was mentioned before, it is inevitable that we will probably be the source of our own demise, having consumed all our natural resources and possibly not managing to find a new home for ourselves before it happens.
ReplyDeleteThank you for replying. In fact, we have no influence on the natural ends of the world, true that. However, let's remember, that we can contribute to slowing down or completely eliminating the threats that we as humanity create for ourselves!
DeleteSuch an intresting article! To be fair I try to avoid thinking about such pessimistic future on daily basis. As previous comment, I try not to worry about global apocalypse and just focus on the bright side. But I have to admit that every theory presented by you sounds kinda real scarry. I think that everybody's heard about comet and exploiding/dying Sun at leats once, so for me the most intresting scenario is volcanic eruption. Since high school I've been finding seismography intresting. This scenerio is especially intresting for me, mainly because some big volcanic eruption (maybe not as big as u mentioned) can happen in our liftime.
ReplyDeleteOne of the 'natural end' I recently have heard of is about bees going extinct. As I recall properly, after last dead bee the humanity has ca. 4 years until we won't be able to maintain life on Earth.
I'm pretty sure that the most brutal, fast and probable end of the world can be done by humanity itself. As many previous comments mentioned - overpopulation, overconsumption, poor source management and other global issues can be much faster and deadlier than Sun exploiding in bilions years. For now I'm not sure which one it will be, but I'm pretty sure the humanity will cause it (or will fasten the process in general)
Thank you very much, and thanks for the reply. I'm glad you liked the article. You raised a very interesting topic about the extinction of bees, I'm just wondering if you meant their natural extinction (i.e. without human interference, they are somehow threatened just by the conditions prevailing on Earth now), or the fact that humanity contributes to the devastation of everything, and thus the extinction of bees will only be a side effect of this? I suppose the latter option is correct, but then humanity would contribute to it, so I don't know if we can call it "natural annihilation". Despite that, a very interesting proposition. As for the topic of a volcanic eruption, I also believe it can happen sooner rather than later, of course it's unlikely to be a supereruption or a supervolcano, so most of humanity is rather safe. However, you never know what lurks below the surface, after all, we only discovered about 5% of the surface of the oceans. Maybe some hidden supervolcano is waiting for us right there?
DeleteIf we look at the situation objectively, then the most realistic scenario for the death of the planet is an asteroid. The sun is what will destroy our planet and this is a fact, but destruction will take place very far in the future. Therefore, meteorites and other space objects can do this much sooner and more suddenly, since the destruction by the sun will not be soon and will be very slow. And although scientists can detect a large meteorite, nothing really can be done about it, and sending a crew of astronauts on a shuttle to destroy it, as in many science fiction films, it is very fantastic and not realistic. But the surest way to destroy the earth is to do nothing, people themselves will destroy everything if nothing is changed now. You don't even need to wait for any asteroids or incineration by the sun. It is enough to increase the temperature of the planet by only 2 degrees Celsius to trigger a domino effect to destroy the planet. There is such a thing as a doomsday clock, and it shows now one minute to midnight.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, every presented scenario is very interesting and a little abstract to us. Therefore it's hard to think of it as a danger to us. The paragraph about the sun is most interesting to me because it's a giant object full of power and it's important to make our best to understand "how it works".
ReplyDeleteWhat about evolution? There are a lot of scientists in the world who are convinced that evolution leads the earth to the end.
I think or maybe I hope that civilization will reflect about themselves and will proceed with necessary steps to slow down or even stop or reverse that process.