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That the environment could slowly transition its chemistry into a state which is not suitable for life is one of my biggest fears. It would be a silent killer.

sitkack 8y ago
I am not convinced that life on the planet will survive. We could very well turn into Venus. Maybe we did already. In previous cataclysmic events, life was spread en masse to low earth orbit, to return after the fires died down and the earth cooled off. We have no such seed bank in orbit now.
- tremon 8y ago
  We do not know for a fact that life does not exist on Venus, though.
  - anonytrary 8y ago
    "Life" means humans in this context. If the environment changes so much that it leaves microbes around but not mammals, that's what is scary. We're mammals. We're not as resilient as microbes are.
adrianN 8y ago
Life is pretty resilient. I'm sure some bacteria would manage to survive pretty much anything. Life survived a number of extinction events where >90% of all species were lost, so the chances are good that life will go on.
- macintux 8y ago
  Life will definitely go on, but this would seem to be our sole chance at getting off the planet. Any future reboot wouldn't have the cheap energy resources we've exploited to this point.
- anonytrary 8y ago
  I should have said "human life". A world that is no longer suitable for mammals but is suitable for microbes falls under the category of "things that scare me".
goatlover 8y ago
The dinosaurs evolved in a climate with 6 times the CO2 we have, after long term volcanic activity. It will take a lot more than climate change to knock out all life. Maybe a gamma ray burster a few light years a way could do it, or a massive collision that melts the crust. Not much else, though. Life as a whole is extremely reilient.
- AstralStorm 8y ago
  Unfortunate fact is that humans are not as resilient. Even with all our technology we'd have problems.
  - goatlover 8y ago
    Not sure why that would be. Our ancestors survived an ice age while outcompeting Neanderthals with primitive stone aged technology, and spread from Africa all the way to Easter Island, the depths of the Amazon and Tasmania.

sitkack 8y ago

I am not convinced that life on the planet will survive. We could very well turn into Venus. Maybe we did already. In previous cataclysmic events, life was spread en masse to low earth orbit, to return after the fires died down and the earth cooled off. We have no such seed bank in orbit now.

tremon 8y ago
We do not know for a fact that life does not exist on Venus, though.
- anonytrary 8y ago
  "Life" means humans in this context. If the environment changes so much that it leaves microbes around but not mammals, that's what is scary. We're mammals. We're not as resilient as microbes are.

adrianN 8y ago

Life is pretty resilient. I'm sure some bacteria would manage to survive pretty much anything. Life survived a number of extinction events where >90% of all species were lost, so the chances are good that life will go on.

macintux 8y ago
Life will definitely go on, but this would seem to be our sole chance at getting off the planet. Any future reboot wouldn't have the cheap energy resources we've exploited to this point.
anonytrary 8y ago
I should have said "human life". A world that is no longer suitable for mammals but is suitable for microbes falls under the category of "things that scare me".

goatlover 8y ago

The dinosaurs evolved in a climate with 6 times the CO2 we have, after long term volcanic activity. It will take a lot more than climate change to knock out all life. Maybe a gamma ray burster a few light years a way could do it, or a massive collision that melts the crust. Not much else, though. Life as a whole is extremely reilient.

AstralStorm 8y ago
Unfortunate fact is that humans are not as resilient. Even with all our technology we'd have problems.
- goatlover 8y ago
  Not sure why that would be. Our ancestors survived an ice age while outcompeting Neanderthals with primitive stone aged technology, and spread from Africa all the way to Easter Island, the depths of the Amazon and Tasmania.